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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26733394">The Propinquity Equation</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/KayleeReynolds/pseuds/KayleeReynolds'>KayleeReynolds</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Big Bang Theory (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Amy gets a bit jealous, Best Friends, First Dates, First Kiss, Friendship, Jealousy, Leonard gets angry, Romance, Sheldon is better at dating than you would think, Shenny - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:54:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>39,920</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26733394</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/KayleeReynolds/pseuds/KayleeReynolds</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Amy and Stuart agree to go on a date, it sets Sheldon off in motion to figure out what he wants. Once he's set his sights on Penny, there is no turning back, not even when she isn't ready for it. </p>
<p>This story takes place during Season 5, Episode 10. For obvious reasons, I have changed the outcome.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sheldon Cooper &amp; Penny, Sheldon Cooper/Penny</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>101</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>378</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Not to be misplaced</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>*This takes place during Season 5, Episode 10. Obviously, I am changing everything, but only because this story got stuck in my head and wouldn’t let go. This is my second overall fan fiction, and it’s my first for Big Bang. Please leave reviews, they give me motivation! Thank you!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>*Chapter 1* </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny was making dinner. Looking down at her pathetic attempts at being an adult, she grimaced. Dinner, once again, was a can of soup. Unfortunately, it was the only thing she could afford this week. Tips hadn’t been the best lately at the Cheesecake Factory, and let’s face it, her acting career wasn’t exactly making her a whole lot these days. Or ever. She lifted her head when she heard someone approaching her door. (The walls and doors were thin in this building, and sounds carried a little too easily for her liking.) History had taught her that there are only a couple of friends who’ll randomly stop by, and it didn’t take a genius to narrow it down to one person based off of the sound of his footsteps. She quickly turned down the heat on the stove and started walking towards the door. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>(Knock, knock, knock) “Who do we love?” She called in response to his knocks. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Penny”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>(Knock, knock, knock) “Who do we love?” She called a bit louder. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Penny”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>(Knock, knock, knock) “Who do we love??” She practically yelled through the door while doing her best not to laugh. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Penny” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny waited until he was finished before opening the door to see him standing there in his “Batman” t-shirt and signature chinos. She smiled brightly to make sure he knew she was just teasing him. “Hello Sheldon, come on in.” Penny invited him happily into her little apartment. She turned at headed back to stir her soup, she didn’t want to burn it again. Goodness only knows what her wackadoodle friend wanted this time, but she didn’t care, he was sweet, and as long as he didn’t push her over the edge with his unintentional insults, she would do her best to help him out with whatever it was. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thank you.” she heard him reply over her shoulder.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What’s up?”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I came to ask if you would like to go on a date with me.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Her mind went blank and she sputtered “I’m sorry, what?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“A date. You and me. Dining, dancing, perhaps you’d like to take in a prizefight?” He replied with a barely noticeable smile. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Did he think she was stupid? She knew what he was doing, and she was hard pressed not to be offended. “God, are you trying to make Amy jealous?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon had known Penny for quite some time now, and knew that she was waiting for him to shout ‘Bazinga’. Little did she know that he was completely serious. He needed to play his cards carefully, so if she declined, he could play it off like it didn’t hurt his feelings. He never wanted to guilt Penny into dating him like Leonard did. He had always hated that, and hated what Leonard had put Penny through over the years. “No. Why is everyone so obsessed with Amy and Stuart? And whether or not they may be having more pumpkin lattes, or intercourse tonight?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny mentally sighed. He just didn’t get it. Granted, he didn’t ‘get’ most social interactions, but still. “Okay, listen to me. Playing games is not gonna help get Amy back.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m not trying to get her back. I’m trying to determine exactly how I feel. My emotions are all out of sync, and I need to sort it all out so I can go back to focusing on my work.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny rolled her eyes. It was just like Sheldon to come up with the weirdest way of dealing with his feelings. “How is the two of us going on a date going to help you figure out your feelings for Amy?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m glad you asked, Penny!” Sheldon sat down in his spot on her couch. He set his hands in his lap and looked over to the kitchen where she was stirring what he deduced must be her dinner. Based off the containers that littered her coffee table, he knew it had been a slow week at work, and she was low on money again. He would offer to loan her some, but she’d made it clear that unless she was really desperate, she didn’t want to borrow money. It drove him crazy, because she was his best friend, and he wanted her to be healthy and happy. After all, he had plenty of money, and didn’t mind helping her out one bit. He would need to give some thought to how he could help without her knowing. “To clarify, this is not about me figuring out my feelings for Amy, it’s about figuring out my feelings regarding Amy and Stuart dating. It started when Leonard, Raj, and Wolowitz kept talking about it and asking if I was jealous. The very idea is preposterous. I am concerned about Amy, I have deduced that this relationship is doomed to failure. I know she was seeking a romantic relationship with me, but I only see her as a friend. I don’t want her to get hurt, but I don’t know how to relay that information to her without hurting either of them in the process.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny turned off the stove and poured her soup into a bowl, then stuck it in the microwave to stay warm. She walked over and sat down next to him. “Sweetie, it’s great that you are trying so hard not to hurt their feelings, but what does any of this have to do with us going out on a date?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, while trying to figure out how to stop Amy and Stuart from going down a path that can only lead to ruin, it got me thinking about relationships. As you know, I have never held romantic relations in high regard, but what most people fail to realize is that I still have normal human urges. I just repress them in the name of academia. What has me puzzled however, is that there are many other scientists and Nobel Prize Laureates that have all had successful romantic endeavors and still managed to be at the top of their fields. I was always under the belief that having a romantic liaison would detract from my goals, but I’m curious to see if instead, they might enhance them. The premise is that since I have these unwanted urges, if I instead pacify them, I can divert the brain power and energy I’m putting into repressing them, into my work instead.” He was very pleased with his reasoning, and hoped it would convince her to acquest to going on a date with him. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny was tired, and trying to translate ‘Sheldon speak’ is hard to do on an empty stomach. “Okay, I think I got it. Basically, you are saying that instead of fighting so hard not to want basic human interaction, you are going to try to satisfy your need for sex so you can focus on work? But I’m still confused, what does this have to do with me, and how does it correlate with Amy and Stuart dating?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon tried not to grab at his hair in frustration. It was a habit that has been very hard to control over the years, especially around Penny, who very often made him want to pull his hair out. That is one of the many reasons she had to agree to this. “Penny, it’s very simple. I can’t stop thinking about Amy and Stuart and why they insist on attempting a romantic relationship with one another. I can’t focus on my work. Then, thinking about them, made me think about other relationships and the statistic likelihood of them lasting. I began to plot equations on my white board of all the relationships our group has, both friendships paradigms and romantic paradigms. To make sure my calculations were precise, I also included failed relationships. My calculations had led me to one main conclusion. I am jealous.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny thumped her head back on the couch. “And we’re back to square one.” She lifted her head and leveled him with a frustrated glare “Sheldon, I am hungry, my soup is probably cold, and I’m going to have to reheat it. Why would you lead me through all this explanation if you were just going to tell me that? You said you weren’t jealous! Just ask her out already.”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon looked down at his hands. Admitting this was extremely difficult, but he knew she was the only one who would understand, the only one who wouldn’t make fun of him. He had to make her understand. He closed his eyes and clenched his hands. “I’m jealous that they are able to have a relationship at all, that they can still complete their work, and have time for each other. I’m jealous that they are able to compartmentalize enough to have both. Beverly has informed me that by trying to ignore my biological urges, I am actually holding myself back from my full potential. I scoffed at first, but science doesn’t lie. The math doesn’t lie. I know people think I’m a robot, or an alien, and to a certain extent I helped to cultivate that image so people would leave me to my work, but there is a part of me that I have tried to keep hidden that wants the same thing everyone else does. Someone to come home to. I thought having a roommate might help soothe those needs, but it doesn’t. It can’t.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny’s mouth hung open. Sheldon has a deal. No one knew, not even her. She knew he had a masturbation schedule, but he made it clear it was just biology, and not something he enjoyed. She also knew he was a virgin, and didn’t know the first thing about dating. “Sheldon, sweetie, I know you aren’t a robot or an alien. If you were, we wouldn’t be friends, you wouldn’t have allowed yourself to be. While you can irritate the crap out of people, you are the most kindhearted person I know. You know, Beverly might be on to something. Love makes you a better person, just look at your friendships. Do you think you would have made it as far as you have without friends? Sure, you would still be the smartest person I know, but you need other people to survive, we all do. But what made you think your first foray into the dating scene should be with me? I just don’t get it.” She shook her head in confusion. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon hadn’t realized he was holding his breath until she started speaking. Her response lifted a weight he hadn’t realized was so heavy until it was gone. “Like I said before, the math doesn’t lie. Out of everyone I know, there is no one out there better for me than you.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny stood and started wringing her hands. This wasn’t right. “Sheldon, that doesn’t even make sense! We are way too different. You’re this.....this beautiful mind genius guy, and I’m Penny, a community college dropout and a big ol’ five. You deserve to be with someone so much better, and someone more on your level. If not Amy, maybe another scientist? I know Amy has said many times that there aren’t enough female scientists in the world, but they can’t be all that rare. Maybe I could come up to the university sometime and help you find someone?”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon had watched Penny stand up and start pacing the room. He realized in that moment that somewhere along their friendship line, he had failed her. He had to rectify this immediately. He stood up and stepped in her path and grabbed her gently by her upper arms to steady her. He waited until she looked up. “Penny. I am extremely sorry if I ever made you feel inferior. That was never my intention. While I have compared our levels of knowledge, it was never meant to be an insult to you, but more of an observation. There are very few people in the world as smart as me, and even fewer that have a higher level of intelligence. I have always stated facts, forgetting sometimes that the vast majority of the world’s population does not see the world in the same light as I do. While you are in fact a ‘community college dropout’ that in itself does not lessen who you are as a person. I assure you that if I wanted to date another scientist, I happen to already know of quite a few that would be interested.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny squeezed her eyes shut to stop the tears that were threatening to escape. Sheldon didn’t do well with ‘female hysterics’, as he liked to say. She knew he never meant to hurt her, but she knows who she is. She’s a nobody, and she fights with herself every day to stay in California, and not run home in shame. That’s one of the reasons she drinks so much, it dulls the pain of her failures, and helps her to forget what a loser she is. Even if it’s only for a little while. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon hated seeing her like this. He knows he has no talent for comforting people, that’s what Penny is good at. He gently steered her back to the couch and pushed her down until she was sitting again. He took his spot next to her and waited as she leaned back and rested her head on the back of the couch again. “Penny, I don’t pretend to understand how you came to the conclusion that you are lacking in some fundamental way, but I would hope that you know me well enough by now to know that I would never lie to you. I am a scientist, which you know, and you also know that I never do anything without thoroughly researching it first. You can rest assured that I have thought of this from every possible angle, and have done the math to back my work. Out of all the people I know, there is no one better suited to be my mate than you.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny didn’t even know how she was supposed to respond to that. On one hand, it was probably the nicest thing anyone has ever said to her, but on the other, this was Sheldon for goodness sake. She sat up and studied the man beside her. He was rude, pompous, and yet oddly endearing. There is no way this would ever work. “Sweetie, thank you, but girls don’t really like being referred to as someone’s ‘mate’. “ </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon thought for a moment. “Well, I suppose there is nothing wrong about replacing it with the more common colloquial terminology of ‘girlfriend’ instead. I just assumed we would try one date before determining if a paradigm shift in our relationship was called for.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sheldon, I’m not sure what math was all involved in this decision of yours, but you forgot one important equation.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Impossible. I was very thorough and I.....” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny interrupted before he could launch into a full description of mathematics that she was positive she wouldn’t understand. “I know you were thorough, but there is one thing I’m positive that you didn’t consider. The unknown. You calculated relationships for everyone you know, but there are still so many people just in our immediate area that you don’t know or haven’t met yet. Your soulmate could be out there somewhere, just waiting to meet you.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon was getting tired of this. He needed to hurry up and get her to agree to a date so she could see all the different ways they were compatible. While he wasn’t sure he believed in the concept of ‘soulmates’ if he had to say he had one, it would be her. “Penny, once again you underestimate me. I accounted for the possibility that there is also someone else that I haven’t met yet that would suit me. I used a formula calculating my age, how long it has taken me to cultivate my current relationships, and then quantified the statistical rate at what point I might find said person. According to my calculations, you are still the highest percentage of compatibility. You have called me a ‘beautiful mind genius’ more than once, so why do you question my work?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny stood up again, she had to move, this was all too much. “Because! I’m no good at this! I don’t want to break you or....or damage you. Don’t you see? You are my best friend, I can’t risk it. Hell, Sheldon, you can barely stand to be touched! In the entire time I’ve known you, we’ve hugged only a couple of times.  How could we possibly make this work?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon took it as a good sign that she used the word ‘we’. He was finally making some headway. “Penny, you are the only one that has consistently knocked down my carefully erected walls. I am more open to being touched by you than anyone else, and in case you’ve forgotten, I have touched you more than I’ve touched anyone else as well.” He was of course, referring to the time he had to assist her to the hospital. He tried his best to keep things platonic, but he was only male after all.  That day featured in many of his scheduled masturbatory sessions. “And as for ‘breaking’ me, I’m not as fragile as everyone seems to think I am. I know exactly who you are, Penny. I have always known. From the first day I met you, I knew what kind of person you were. I know your past, and I know all your flaws. I also know all the things that make you wonderful. All I’m asking for is one date. One date to prove to you that I’m worth taking the risk.”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny was lost. How on earth was she supposed to say no to that? Just when she thought she had him all figured out, he had to go and surprise her. What he didn’t understand is that she already knew he was worth taking the risk, but that didn’t make it any less scary. If she did anything to hurt him, she would hate herself. Didn’t he see that? Didn’t he know that she wasn’t worth the risk? That’s why she goes out to bars and has one night stands. She doesn’t know how to do the whole relationship thing. She tried it a few times, and each time it went down in flames. All she could do now is agree to the date and make sure she didn’t let herself go for a second. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He knew he had won when she stopped and looked at him. He wasn’t always the best at reading body language, but the eyes? He could read eyes, especially hers. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. While he isn’t sure what a soul entails, he does recognize the fear and desire unintentionally shown to him while she ponders his challenge. To seal the deal, as it were, he stood up slowly, and reached for her hands. He looked deep into her eyes and asked again “Penny, would you like to go on a date with me? Please?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>*Can I just say how much I absolutely love Sheldon? Please make sure to leave detailed reviews! They are life!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>*Chapter 2*</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Penny couldn’t believe she agreed to this. Here she was, freshly showered, and searching in her closet for the perfect thing to wear on her date with Sheldon. Sheldon! Her lovable and infuriating wackadoodle. He looked so happy when she finally said yes.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Okay, Sheldon, I’ll agree to this...” She held up a hand as soon as he opened his mouth to speak “BUT, there are conditions.” she ticked off the counts on her fingers “One, it has to be a real date, no comic book store or Cheesecake Factory allowed. Two, you give me enough warning in advance so I have time to get ready. And finally, number three, and this one is the most important, you will dress accordingly for the date. That means if we are going someplace nice, you have to dress the part. No comic character t-shirts.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“I agree to those terms.” Sheldon nodded “I would like to clarify a few points however.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Okay, shoot.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“What do you consider to be a fair time frame of warning for our date?”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“I need at least two hours, that way I can shower, get dressed, and do hair and makeup.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Sheldon nodded “That is reasonable. How do I know what to wear for a date based off of the type of date it is?” Sheldon had never really studied dating, so he wasn’t sure of the proper dress etiquette.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Penny thought for a moment. “Okay, we’ll do a star rating, like with online shopping and stuff. One-star is your more casual date, think like going to play mini golf, or going to the arcade. You can dress similar to your every day for a one-star date. Two-stars is like going to the movies, or out to a casual dinner. You might consider one of your favorite shirts, or one without graphics on it. Three-stars you need to dress a bit nicer. Maybe for a date like at a nicer restaurant, or going to see a concert. Wear a nice button up shirt. Four-stars would be like going to a fancy dinner, or the opera or something. Black tie event type stuff. Then five-star is the equivalent of you getting a major award, like the Nobel Prize. Tux. Definitely a Tux.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Thank you, Penny, that was well thought out, and extremely helpful. This is new to me, so I appreciate you helping to ensure our first date goes well.” Sheldon smiled. “Since you have declared that you need a two-hour notice, I propose that I head back to my apartment, and you prepare for a four-star date. I will pick you up in two hours. Please be punctual.” He nodded and quickly left before Penny could stop him.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>She had quickly reheated her soup and scarfed half of it down before hopping in the shower. If she had to wait another couple of hours to eat, she needed to make sure she didn’t pass out. While she could have chased him down and informed him that tonight was not a good night, it was better to get it over with. Plus, he had said four-star date. She was curious to see what he thought he could pull together in two hours. She continued to look through her closet and discard various outfits until her hands reached for a dress she hadn’t seen in a very long time. It was a dress she had bought near the end of her disastrous relationship with Kurt. She was supposed to wear it for an event he promised to take her to. It was gorgeous, and she never got to wear it. She pulled it out, smiled, and ran into the bathroom to continue getting ready.</p><p> </p><p>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon sat down at his desk, careful not to wrinkle his suit pants. He had already taken a shower (Even though it was not time according to his usual schedule, but he wanted to be at his best for Penny.) and he took the time to brush and floss his teeth, and to freshen up. He’d taken his time with his preparations, and now he was biding his time. He logged into his Facebook account, and spent a few minutes seeing if anything interesting had happened, and as usual, not much was going on. He checked his notifications, and sure enough, there was a message from Missy. She checked in with him every few days, or anytime she had something to say.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Missy: Hey, Shelly! Just wanted to check in and make sure y’all are doing okay there in Pasadena. Mama said last time she spoke to you, you sounded upset, and she figured I could try to wrangle it outta ya.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon sighed audibly, Missy was online, so she would know he saw the message. If he didn’t take the time to reply, she would start calling and pestering him until he answered. He had some time still, so he began typing.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Sheldon: Hello, Missy. Mama must be referring to how irritated I was with Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler. She was pressuring me to change the dynamics of our friendship paradigm, and since I had no interest in altering our relationship, I found it frustrating when she tried to twist logic to fit her narrative. I told mama not to worry and that I wasn’t going to do anything outrageous. I hope you are in good health.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Missy: Wait, so there is a girl, a smart girl, that wants to date you? And you turned her down?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Sheldon: Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler is indeed intelligent, that is why she has a PHD. I addition to that, yes, she is a female, and yes, I suppose you could say she wanted to “date” me. I was not attracted to her, so I said no.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Missy: Shelly, I promise not to say a word to mama, but are you sure you’re not gay?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Sheldon: Missy, I haven’t done or said anything to indicate that I am a homosexual. As a matter of fact, I am going on a date in exactly twenty-four minutes. With a female.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Missy: Are you shittin’ me, Shelly?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Sheldon: I’m assuming you are asking if this is one of my famous pranks, and the answer is no.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Missy: I want details! Who is this girl? Do I know her? Where are you going on the date?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Sheldon: Yes, you have met her. I am taking Penny out to dinner and to the theatre.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Missy: I’m callin’ you right now. You BETTER answer!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon sighed and got out his phone just as it started ringing. “Hello, Missy.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sheldon Lee Cooper, if I find out you are messing with me, I will fly out there and kick your scrawny backside all the way back to Texas.”</p><p> </p><p>“Missy, I am not ‘messing with you’. I asked Penny out on a date, and after some discussion to prove that I was serious, she said yes. I really don’t understand why you are making such a big deal out of this.” He huffed.</p><p> </p><p>“Well I’ll be damned. Shelly goin’ out with a girl, and a pretty one at that! So, where are ya takin’ her?”</p><p> </p><p>“Missy, I already told you, dinner and the theatre.”</p><p> </p><p>“No, I mean exactly where? Is it nice?”</p><p> </p><p>“I am taking Penny on what is considered a four-star date. Somewhere nice enough to where I am obliged to wear a suit and tie. We will go out for a nice dinner, then I am taking her to see a live performance at the Pantages Theatre. I happen to be a season ticket holder, and there happens to be a show tonight.”</p><p> </p><p>“Damn, Shelly, you are gonna sweep that girl right off her feet. You better be on your best behavior, and you better not mess this up. I like that girl, and I wouldn’t mind seeing her come Christmas time.”</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon started to panic “Missy, you can’t go tellin’ mama. She’ll be up here buying hats and makin’ plans. Promise me you won’t say a word!” whenever he got angry, or anxious, he tended to slip back into his Texas accent.</p><p> </p><p>“Calm down, I won’t say anything yet. You better call me when you get home, I want to know everything. Got it?”</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon sighed with relief. “I promise. Thank you, Missy. I’ll talk to you later.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, and Shelly? Good luck tonight. I love you!”</p><p> </p><p>“I love you too. Goodbye.”</p><p> </p><p>He hung up the phone and stared at the computer screen that still held his profile on the screen. He debated for a moment, then changed his status to “It’s complicated.” Just as he clicked the button, he heard a commotion outside of the door. Leonard, Howard, and Raj were back. They walked in the door and Leonard stopped and stared as the other two bumped into his back.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey man! What the heck?” Howard stumbled past Leonard.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah dude, why did you stop?” Raj, stepped around the other side, carefully cradling the take out bag.</p><p> </p><p>All three stopped speaking as Sheldon slowly stood up and grabbed his suit coat off the back of the chair. He smoothly slipped it on and picked up his phone and placed it in his pocket. “Good evening, gentlemen. I’m assuming you plan on spending the evening eating and playing video games? I regret to inform you that I will be unable to participate this evening, as I have arranged other plans. Leonard, I’m not sure how late I will return, but I have my key. Please leave the kitchen light on so I don’t stumble when I return.”</p><p> </p><p>Raj was the first to gather his wits. “Dude! You clean up nice! Where are you going?”</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you, Raj, I have a date this evening. Penny has agreed to accompany me for a night out on the town as they say.”</p><p> </p><p>That last bit sputtered Leonard into action. “Wait, what? You asked Penny out on a date? You can’t be serious.”</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon scoffed. “Leonard, why would I dress up and lie about that? I assure you that I took all the proper steps. I asked Penny for a date, she said yes, I made the preparations, dressed myself according to social dating standards, and now I’m headed over to pick her up. I fail to see why this surprises you so much.”</p><p> </p><p>“But....but, you can’t just go out with her! Penny is mine! I saw her first!”</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon could tell he struck a nerve. Leonard was stuttering, wringing his hands, and adjusting his glasses. All tell signs. Hearing Leonard claim Penny as a possession always irritated him, but tonight it went far beyond that, he was downright angry. He walked over and got really close, close enough so Leonard’s eyes widened and he almost took a step back. He lowered the tenor of his voice to make sure he was understood. “Penny belongs only to herself. She is a person in her own right, and it is unseemly the way you continue to pursue her in this fashion. If I didn’t have a better control over myself, I would call you out for your comments. Rest assured that if it happens again, I will not hold myself back.” He stood back to his full height and straightened his jacket. He nodded to Raj and Howard “Gentlemen, enjoy yourselves tonight.” Then he walked out the door and shut it behind him. He took a deep cleansing breath and smiled. It felt good to tell Leonard exactly how he felt. He was done tip-toing around Leonard’s fragile ego.</p><p> </p><p>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>“What just happened?” Leonard squeaked as he began wringing his hands again.</p><p> </p><p>“I think Sheldon has a deal.” Raj replied in astonishment.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, a deal for hot blonds.” Howard said while waggling his eyebrows.</p><p> </p><p>Leonard straightened. “That’s it, I’m going after him.”</p><p> </p><p>Howard stepped in front of the door quickly “Are you mad? Did you not hear Sheldon? I have never seen him act like that before, he looked really pissed. I think you need to wait it out, you know he’ll do something to mess it up. It’s just a date. Sit back, relax, and watch the crazy train unfold.”</p><p> </p><p>Leonard thought about that for a moment. Sheldon was all sorts of crazy, isn’t that why Penny always called him wackadoodle? “You’re right. There is no way Penny would actually go for him. She’s probably just being nice to him. Yeah, it’s fine. Let’s eat.” Leonard grabbed the food from Raj, walked over to the couch, and sat down.</p><p> </p><p>Raj looked at Howard and spoke quietly. “Did you see that? I’ve never seen Sheldon go to so much effort for anyone. I think he might be for real.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, but we can’t tell him that.” He nodded his head nervously to indicate Leonard who was quickly unpacking their dinner.</p><p> </p><p>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>(knock, knock, knock) “Penny”</p><p> </p><p>(knock, knock, knock) “Penny”</p><p> </p><p>(knock, knock, knock) “Penny”</p><p> </p><p>The door opened and all he could do was stare dumbly at her. Over the years he had seen her dressed up for many a date, but he had never seen her looking as beautiful as this. He gave her a quick once over with his eyes. She was wearing a knee length dress of deep purple, that was held up over one shoulder. The skirt flared out at the hips, and was cut at a diagonal at the knee and it draped opposite of the shoulder strap, going down almost to her ankle. She was wearing a pair of matching strappy heels, and it made her legs look phenomenal. Her hair was curled and half of it was pulled back, with a few trendles hanging down along her face. His fingers itched to reach out and touch one. He cleared his throat. “Penny, I have never seen anyone look as beautiful as you do right now.” He held an arm out for her “Are you ready to go?”</p><p> </p><p>Penny smoothed out her dress one last time and grabbed her clutch off the table next to the door. She turned the lock before stepping out in the hallway, and allowing Sheldon to close the door behind her as she took his proffered arm. She had to remind herself to breathe, because standing next to her was Sheldon in a suit. It was the suit she had helped him pick out, but with a charcoal shirt and a black tie. She wondered where he got the shirt and tie from, she didn’t remember seeing him purchase it while they were at the store. “Thank you, Sheldon, that is very sweet of you to say. I think you look very handsome as well. This suit looks very good on you. Where did the new shirt and tie come from?”</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon placed his hand over hers on his arm while they walked down the stairs. He didn’t want her to trip or fall in those heels. “Thank you, Penny. I went back to the store and bought shirts and ties in every color, that way I have a variety to choose from. I also bought five other suits; one navy, one gray, one burgundy, one in a color they call bottle green, and another one in black but with a slightly different cut. In addition, I bought six pairs of cufflinks.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wow, Sheldon, I never expected you to like it so much that you would buy more!”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, Penny, I must admit that you were right. I made quite the impression, and I was pleased with how good I felt all dressed up. Not to mention that they will come in handy for the various ceremonies I will have to attend as I continue to receive awards for my work. They will also be beneficial when I’m forced to socialize at University events to solicit grants and donations for my department.”</p><p> </p><p>They had reached the lobby when she stopped him. “Do you have to go to those kinds of events often? I’ve heard you mention them before, but you always seemed to avoid them in the past.”</p><p> </p><p>“I do, I’m not always good with people, and I have little patience for small talk, but if I really want to win the Nobel Prize, I have to ensure my experiments are funded. Therefore, I plan to start attending those kinds of functions more often. I have always been allowed to invite a guest, and I’m hoping if you aren’t busy, that you will be willing to attend them with me.” Sheldon held open the door for her, and helped guide her outside.</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon’s hand on her lower back was doing all sorts of strange things to Penny’s insides, but before she could say anything, her gaze was captured by the limo sitting there in the street. A man stood next to the back door and opened it for them. Her mind couldn’t form a coherent thought so she blurted “You rented a limo for us?”</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon glanced at the woman beside him. “More like I rented the driver. I don’t enjoy driving, and this is our first date. I have a prior arrangement with this company. They have three drivers that I have approved of, and this particular limo is owned by me. This way I can be assured that it’s always kept clean to my specifications. The limo company keeps it in storage for me, and when I call, they send whichever driver is available at the time. The majority of the time it’s David. He is a single dad, and he likes to pick up the evening hours when he can. Come along and I’ll introduce you.” He steered her towards the vehicle. “David, I would like to introduce you to Penny. Penny, this is David, I’m sure you will be seeing much more of him in the future.”</p><p> </p><p>David tipped his hat to her “Ma’am.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hello, David. Sheldon tells me you have children? How many, and how old, if you don’t mind me asking?”</p><p> </p><p>“Not at all ma’am. I have two girls, fourteen and eight. They like to keep me on my toes.”</p><p> </p><p>Penny laughed “I think all parents say that. I know mine did.”</p><p> </p><p>“True enough, ma’am.” He replied.</p><p> </p><p>“David, how has Christina been feeling lately?”</p><p> </p><p>“She is doing much better these days, thank you. That last round of treatments really made a difference. The doctor said she might be able to walk again in another six months to a year, as long as she keeps up the exercises.”</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon beamed “That is wonderful news! I knew if anyone could help, it would be Dr. Smith. She is the best in her field. Please give my regards to the girls, and tell Dr. Smith I will call her next week to confer.”</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you again for all of your help. I can’t express my gratitude enough.” David gestured for them to get seated so they could be on their way.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t mention it. I was more than happy to help.” Sheldon replied as he steered Penny to the open door. He took her hand and helped her into the limo. He climbed in next to her and smiled when he saw her face. She had just noticed the flowers.</p><p> </p><p>Penny was knocked back again. The interior of the limo was littered with dozens of flowers, they were on every available surface, some were even on the other set of seats. They came in almost every color, and they reminded her of her ‘Penny Blossoms’. “Sheldon! These are beautiful! What are they?”</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon smiled at her exclamation. The joy on her face completely transformed her. “They are called ‘Ranunculus asiaticus’, or the ‘Persian Buttercup’.” He had to call eight different florists in order to fill the limo, but he didn’t care, because her reaction was worth it. He quickly plucked a purple one, snipped off the majority of the stem with his fingernails, and gently tucked it into her hair. “A fresh ‘Penny Blossom’ for your hair.”</p><p> </p><p>Penny melted, who could have guessed that at heart Sheldon was a romantic? It seemed she had a lot to learn about her date. Luckily, she had plenty of time.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>*Here we go! I have no idea how long this story is going to be, I’m just writing until I feel it’s finished. It should be interesting! Thank you for joining me on this journey! A special thank you goes out to misssnapepotterscamander for your WONDERFUL comments! You made my day!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>*Chapter 3* </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny shivered at the touch of his hand in her hair. It had felt so good, she had to keep herself from leaning into his hand. Sheldon, a total romantic, and knowing how to treat a girl right? Who would have thunk it? She needed to get things back on track, so she didn’t fall head over heels for her favorite wackadoodle before the date was even over.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So, Sheldon, what was all that back there with David?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon quickly cleared his head “Oh, that? David’s daughter was in a car accident involving a drunk driver two years ago, along with his wife, who unfortunately, did not survive the crash. I helped him get in touch with the proper medical personnel to assist. I don’t feel comfortable discussing his daughter’s medical records without his express agreement. I’m sorry, Penny, but I can’t give you any details. I hope you understand.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Of course, I understand. That is very thoughtful of you. Can I ask you something else?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Naturally, you may ask me anything you wish.”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny chewed on her lip. It was a bad habit whenever she was nervous. Sheldon was shocked to find there was a part of him that wanted to reach out and pull the lip away from her teeth. He wanted to rub the sting away with his thumb, and he even wanted to kiss her, which was a strange new sensation. Something must have shown on his face because Penny was tilting her head and staring at him quizzically. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why do you own a limo?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh!” Sheldon cleared his head “Well, that’s easy. Years ago, Leonard, Raj, Howard, and I rented a limo for a University function. To say it was filthy is an understatement. Leonard had found it online, and didn’t thoroughly check the company first. Suffice to say, I refused to ride in it. We ended up taking Leonard’s car, and it soured the mood for the evening. The next day, I bought a limo, and set up a contract with a local company. Now we always have a clean limo, waiting at our disposal.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny had to take a moment to process that. She laughed “Sheldon, you are the only person I know, that would go a buy a limo for personal use just so it would always be clean.” she smiled gently at him to take any sting out of her words “So, am I the first girl you have taken out in your limo?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon rolled his eyes and gave her an exasperated look “Penny, you know you are.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny laughed again “I know, sweetie, I was just teasing you a bit.” She patted his thigh next to hers. “So, where are you taking me, Moonpie?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Only my Meemaw calls me Moonpie. You know that.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>More laughter “Yes, sweetie, I know.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon huffed, he had to keep up appearances after all. If she knew how much he loved it when she called him ‘Moonpie’, then she would know exactly how much power she held over him. “If you must know, we have dinner reservations at the Greenleaf, and then we’ll head across the street to the Pantages Theatre to see a showing of ‘The King and I’.” Sheldon blushed. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny was flabbergasted. No one had ever taken her on such a nice date. Most guys just took her out to a cheap diner and maybe to a bar for a bit of drinking and dancing. “How did you get tickets on such short notice?”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He shrugged in reply "I hold season seats. They come in handy. If there is something I want to see, I already have tickets. If there is a show that I’m not interested in, I can always give the tickets to someone else. It’s a great way to butter up Gablehauser or one of the other department heads if I want something. I usually attend at least three shows per year. I keep five season passes, that way I can take whoever I want. My mother and Meemaw come up once a year to see something, and sometimes I take Missy if she’s in town. It’s just easier this way.” He replied bashfully.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Before Penny could say anything else, the limo came to a stop. Sheldon opened the door, stepped out, and reached his hand back in to assist her. She gratefully took his hand and stepped out onto the pavement. The sun was setting, and the colors in the sky made a magnificent backdrop to the man in front of her. Without thought, she went up on her tip-toes and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sheldon, you never cease to amaze me.” Penny smiled. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Missy, you better not be pullin’ my leg.” Mary Cooper set a pitcher of fresh lemonade on the table and sat down. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m not mama, I promise! But you can’t say a word to Shelly, he’ll know I told and he’ll never confide in me again.” Missy grabbed the pitcher and began pouring glasses for everyone. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Now, Mary, don’t you go puttin’ your nose where it don’t belong. You just let that boy figure this out on his own. If you go stickin’ your oar in, he’s libel to get spooked.” Connie knew Mary had been praying for years that their little Shelly would find himself a nice young lady, but if there was one person she knew better than anyone, it was her Moonpie. He would buck at the first sign of interference.  </p>
<p>“I’m not saying that I’m going to reserve the church or anything, I’m just talking about making a family trip to see him. After all, we usually go around this time of year anyway. This year we’ll just happen to all go at the same time.” Mary replied with a shrug. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What if we invite him here instead? If we all fly to California, he’ll know something is up. We need an excuse to get him to bring Penny here.” Missy stirred a little extra sugar into her lemonade. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The three women sat quietly thinking for a moment. “I got it!” Connie exclaimed. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The meal was delicious and the atmosphere was phenomenal. Penny was having the best time. Sheldon had reserved a secluded little booth table in the back corner, along the wall on a plush bench. All the food was farm to table, and Sheldon even arranged a tour of the kitchens. He had been there before and inspected them, but he wanted her to see for herself. It was sweet, but unnecessary. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that she wasn’t concerned about it. They had talked about all sorts of things, from new quests in Age of Conan, to a local LARPing group that Sheldon had considered checking out. They verbally mapped out a plan for paintball that weekend, and discussed the merits of adding a small corner bookcase to Penny’s bathroom to store all her beauty products so they wouldn’t litter the small counter around the sink. Sheldon was putting in extra effort into keeping the conversation light and easy, and she really appreciated it.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So, which one did you like better, the chicken or salmon?” Penny was amazed when Sheldon agreed to split each dish in half so they could each try both. He insisted on cutting them in half himself so he could make sure they each received an equal portion. It was adorable. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hmmm. While the Salmon Filet had a lovely flavor, the Almond Crusted Chicken Breast was cooked to perfection. I would have to go with the chicken.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I agree. I also really liked the hummus. Much better than the one we serve at work.” Penny replied. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I confess that I have yet to try the hummus at the Cheesecake Factory. Maybe I’ll consider adding that to my order next week.” He placed his napkin on the table next to his plate “If you are ready, I suggest we walk over to the theatre. I calculate that if we leave right now, we’ll have twenty-two minutes to study the architecture, ten minutes to look in the gift shop, five minutes to use the washroom, and ten minutes to find our seats.” Sheldon stood and held his hand out to help maneuver Penny out of the booth seat. They had sat next to each other during dinner, and it was more pleasant than he expected it to be. He could still smell the green apple shampoo she used on her hair, it teased his senses throughout dinner, but he found it quite enjoyable. Once she was standing, he wrapped her arm in his and settled her hand on his arm once again.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon kept his hand over hers which she found warm and comforting, and he held the door for her and placed his hand on the small of her back to guide her until they were outside. Once they cleared the door, he claimed her hand again and escorted her carefully across the street to the theatre. She was going to have a lot to write in her diary tonight.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Since Sheldon had been here many times before, and had an eidetic memory, it allowed him to ignore his surroundings and study the reverence on Penny’s face as she took in the majesty of the theatre. Penny let go of his arm and stepped forward while looking at the octagram ceiling and the statues along the walls. She looked back at him in wonder.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sheldon, this is the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life! Thank you so much for bringing me here.” She walked back over to him and wrapped her arm around his. “Really, you have no idea how wonderful this whole evening has been.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Your pleasure is all the thanks I require Penny. I wanted to show you that there is more to me than my love for comics, schedules, and science. Most people don’t take the time to see past all that, and you have always made the extra effort to understand and accommodate me. You are my best friend. It is as complicated, and as simple, as that.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She smiled beautifully and tugged lightly on his arm. “Come on, Dr. Wackadoodle, show me the architecture of this place, I’m sure you know the history of the whole building. Just make sure to use small words so I understand you.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon smiled and allowed himself to be dragged away “I think I can manage that.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leonard looked at his watch, it was a quarter to eleven, and he was getting worried. Sheldon had a very strict schedule, which included getting to bed between nine and ten o’clock. Everyone knew his schedule, after all, he sent an email out each week. Raj and Howard had decided to stick around, because they wanted to see how the date went. Leonard wished they would leave so he could talk to Sheldon alone. He wasn’t sure why Sheldon had gotten so upset earlier, he had said similar things in the past and it had never seemed to bother his crazy roommate before. Something must be up, there was no other explanation for it. Maybe it was payback for all the teasing about Amy and Stuart? Yes, that must be it. No way did Sheldon have a deal, and no way was he seriously interested in Penny. He grabbed a water out of the fridge and started back. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Guys, are you sure you don’t want to head out? It’s getting late and we all have to get up early for work tomorrow.” Leonard adjusted his glasses, sat back down on the couch, and twisted open his bottle. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Are you kidding me? And miss grilling Sheldon about his date with Penny? No way, I’m staying here.” Howard laughed. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sorry dude, he’s my ride home.” Raj said with sympathy. He could tell Leonard was on edge. He wasn’t surprised though, while it had been a while since they had broken up, everyone knew Leonard still held a torch for Penny and was hoping they could get back together some day. Raj thought it was a waste of time, but he didn’t want to hurt his friend’s feelings. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m just saying, I don’t know what time he’s getting home, and I’m thinking of going to bed.” That was a lie, but he was hoping to confront Sheldon alone.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You are free to go to bed if you like, Raj and I will be quiet, we can just pop in a movie and hang. We’ll even make sure to lock up when we leave.” Howard smiled and settled deeper into the couch. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leonard wasn’t going to bed until he spoke with Sheldon, and he wasn’t much for confrontation, so he sighed and stood up. “Well, if we’re going to watch something, let’s at least take advantage of Sheldon not being here. Babylon 5?” He walked over to the bookshelf and grabbed his collector's edition blue ray. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon helped her into the limo that was once again waiting outside for them. Penny sat down and looked around in panic. “Sheldon! What happened to the flowers you bought for me?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon settled in his seat and placed a hand on her arm until she turned her head towards him. “Please don’t be mad at me, but I gave David my spare key, and I asked him to take the flowers to your apartment while we were watching the performance. He is completely trustworthy. I did a complete background check and finger printing on all three drivers before hiring them. He had strict instructions on where to place each vase, and he would never even consider touching any of your personal items. You have my word.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny exhaled in relief. “I’m not mad, sweetie, I trust you, I was just worried. Thank you for doing that, I was a bit worried about how I was going to get all those flowers upstairs. But, poor David! That is a lot of stairs to go up and down.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You concern for David is appreciated, but unwarranted. I hired the other two drivers to assist him. There were a lot of flowers after all.” Sheldon leaned over and grabbed a small box off the small bar across from him and held it out to Penny. “I thought a little dessert might be in order.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny opened the box and smiled when she saw the two pieces cheesecake.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know you said our date couldn’t be at the Cheesecake Factory, but I wanted to make sure you had your favorite. I didn’t know what else you would like.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny leaned over and for the second time that evening, she kissed him on the cheek. This time however, Sheldon had moved his head slightly her way and her kiss landed on the corner of his mouth. She pulled back quickly, unsure if he would start ranting about germs. Instead, when she looked up, he was wearing a goofy crooked smile. He passed her a plastic fork, and gestured for her to dig in.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon tried to keep his smile from shining too brightly. She had kissed him. Granted, it was on the corner of his mouth, but it was still a kiss. And even more surprising, he wanted more. He wanted to explore her lips, and savor the taste of her chapstick. To press his lips against hers, and tangle his fingers in her hair. This was nothing like the fantasies he made up on Wednesday nights, alone in his bed. Oh no, this was so much better than he ever imagined. He could feel the endorphins rushing through his brain, the dopamine sprinting through his body, and the serotonin racing through his blood. It was a heady feeling, and he thought he now understood his fellow man on a more primal level. He could see why men throughout history had gone to extreme measures all for the love of a woman. He had scoffed at his colleagues in the past, but Penny had opened a door that he didn’t think could be closed again. More than that, he wasn’t sure he wanted it closed. She took a bite of the cheesecake and smiled at him. He smiled back. This was the best night of his life. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leonard paused the movie and signaled the guys to be quiet. He quickly stood up and tip-toed over to the door, Howard and Raj close behind. He could hear Penny laughing.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sheldon, you didn’t!” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I most certainly did! She refused to heed the sign on my bedroom door that strictly prohibited anyone else from entering. She thought that being my twin gave her rights that others did not possess. She was wrong.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But filling her shampoo bottle with mayo? Really?” Penny laughed again “She must have been so mad!” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, she was. In retaliation, she set my comic book collection on fire. When mama found out, she sent us both to bed without supper. But you know what?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Missy waited until everyone was asleep, snuck down to the kitchen, and brought up some food for the both of us. While we didn’t always get along, we stuck together.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Awww! That was sweet of her! It must have been so cool to grow up with a twin. I mean, I know it wasn’t always the most fun, but to have a connection like that? I was never that close with any of my brothers. It would have been nice to have someone that just got me, you know?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Missy and I converse on a regular schedule, I will admit that it can be nice not having to explain why I do things the way I do. Sometimes she irritates me, but she’s the closest family member I have, besides Meemaw that is.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sheldon, I had a great time tonight. Thank you again for a lovely date. I know it is past the time you usually go to sleep, but would you like to come in for a cup of hot cocoa before you go to bed? I would love to hear more stories about Missy and Meemaw.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why thank you, Penny, that would be lovely.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leonard had heard more than enough. He opened the door quickly. “Oh! Hi, Penny.” He thumbed over his shoulder “Raj and Howard were just leaving.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No, we weren’t.” Howard interrupted. “Penny, might I say that you look absolutely delectable tonight.” he waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Raj quickly whispered in Howard’s ear. “Alright, alright.” Howard waved Raj away from him impatiently. “Raj says you look very beautiful, and he hopes you had a good time on your date with Sheldon.” Raj nodded happily. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Awww, thank you guys. I had such a wonderful time that I’m willing to overlook the ‘delectable’ comment from Howard.” Penny replied with a bright smile. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So, where’d you two kids go?” Howard asked. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny twined her arm with Sheldon’s “Sheldon took me to dinner and to the Pantages to see ‘The King and I’. It was a very romantic evening.” She smiled up at Sheldon. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leonard didn’t like the way Sheldon was smiling down into Penny’s upturned face, he didn’t like that Sheldon could make her laugh, and he certainly didn’t like Penny’s arm wrapped around Sheldon’s so tightly. “You know, Buddy, it’s way past your bedtime, why don’t you say goodnight to Penny, so we can all get some sleep, huh?”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny hated the way Leonard always talked to Sheldon like a child. She knew she could be guilty of the same thing time to time, but she would make it a point never to do so again. Before she could say anything, she watched as Sheldon took care of it for her. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thank you for your concern, Leonard,” Sheldon almost sneered “but, I made sure to speak with Gablehauser earlier this evening. I have taken the next three days off so I can afford to stay up a bit later tonight. This also offers me the opportunity to spend more time with Penny over the next couple of days since I happen to know she is off for the weekend. I know you have to work in the morning, which is why I told you earlier that you didn’t need to wait up for me. I would hate for you to lose out on much needed rest.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Raj and Howard just stood back with their eyes wide open, watching it all unfold in front of them. Neither one was going to say a word. Raj because he couldn’t talk in front of Penny, and Howard, because he was hoping to see someone’s head explode. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leonard pushed his glasses back up and stood to his full height. “Sheldon, this is ridiculous. It is way past your bedtime, and you know you get cranky in the mornings if you don’t get enough sleep. This is for your own good, now, say goodnight to Penny.”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You know what, Leonard? Shut up. I am sick and tired of listening to you talk to Sheldon like a two year old. Knock it off right now.” Penny was quickly losing her temper with Leonard and his crap. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Penny, I’m just trying to avoid problems in the morning. You know how he gets.” Leonard tried to pacify her. She wasn’t supposed to get mad at him. He was the good guy. Just because Sheldon acted normal for one night, did not mean he was suddenly changed. He was still the anal-retentive genius he always was, but in a suit. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon completely ignored Leonard’s hissy fit and turned to the beautiful woman on his arm. “Penny, I suggest we adjourn to your apartment where we can drink hot cocoa, and we can see if you like the placement of flowers. If you don’t, I am more than willing to move them wherever you want, but I have a feeling you will find the current set up to be astatically pleasing.”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Flowers?” Howard blurted out in confusion. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sheldon, can I speak to you for a moment?” Leonard said at the same time. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Penny, will you excuse me? If you wish to get started on the hot cocoa preparations, I promise to be there in a minute to help.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Of course, sweetie.” She turned her head “Howard? Raj? Thank you again, for the compliments. Have a good night!” Penny smiled at the boys, Howard could be disgusting at times, but she also knew he was fairly harmless. Raj was just a sweetheart, she wished she could find a way to help him with his talking to girls problem. She glanced at Leonard and dropped her smile. “Leonard.” She acknowledged with a nod and turned toward her apartment. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon stood his ground, which forced Leonard to shuffle over with his shoulders all tense, and wringing his hands as he was wont to do. Sheldon tilted his head and studied his former best friend. Beverly had been right on many accounts, Leonard’s insecurities and lack of self-confidence really worked against him, and while Sheldon could certainly use that to his advantage (after all, he had done so before), he knew that if he really wanted to be with Penny, he would need to do it the right way. No shortcuts. “Leonard, what is it you wish to speak about?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leonard waved his hands, indicating all of Sheldon, and gestured to include Penny’s apartment. “This! All of this! Seriously, Sheldon, what were you thinking?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon restrained from rolling his eyes. Typical Leonard, with his non-specific queries. “If you are referring to my date with Penny, I fail to see why it should concern you. I happen to like Penny very much. I have since the day I met her. Just because I didn’t ‘call dibs’ and claim that ‘our babies will be smart and beautiful’ doesn’t mean I didn’t have feelings for her. I just happen to have more respect for women, and don’t feel the need to express my emotions as openly as you do.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leonard wasn’t sure what to do now. Sheldon was predictable, you could set your clock to him. Literally. But in one day, with one date, he seemed to be a completely different person. Maybe if he appealed to Sheldon’s logical side. “Buddy, I’m just worried about you. Best friends do that, they worry about each other. Let’s face it, Penny isn’t known for long term relationships, I would hate to see her take advantage of you. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon held up his hand to stop Leonard “Leonard, allow me to respond, one point at a time. First, the title of best friend was transferred to Penny after the disastrous trip to the Artic. Second, Penny had a long term relationship, that is how she wound up in California to begin with, granted, it didn’t end well, but I would definitely categorize four years as long term. Third, she has never taken advantage of me, but we both know that you have no compunction whatsoever about doing that yourself. What was it that my Meemaw used to say? Something about those that live in glass houses?” he tapped his chin as if in thought, then stared down his nose at his roommate “I have no interest in entertaining your false concern a moment longer. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my date is waiting on me. Goodnight Howard, Raj. Leonard, I’m sure I’ll see you tomorrow.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon walked away, unaware of the astonished stares behind him.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Howard looked at Leonard, who seemed to be frozen to the spot. He glanced over at Raj in question, who shrugged in return. “Well, I guess Raj and I will be off then. See you tomorrow at work!” Howard scurried down the stairs. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Raj stepped over to Leonard and placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I’m sorry dude. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Leonard didn’t even acknowledge him, so Raj turned and walked down the stairs after Howard. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leonard stood like that for a few minutes before his head finally cleared. “What the hell just happened?” He called out to the empty hallway in exasperation. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Is it heated to precisely one hundred and sixty-five degrees?”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Let me double check the candy thermometer. Yep.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Did you use the hot cocoa my Meemaw sent you?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny rolled her eyes “Yes, would I bother to serve you anything else?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I suppose not. Do you have the mini-marshmallows that I like?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes, sweetie, I have them right here.” Penny passed him a jar filled with mini-marshmallows. She turned and grabbed the kettle off the stove then poured the milk into the mugs. She took out the canister of hot cocoa his Meemaw had sent her, and placed two scoops into each mug. She was pretty sure the cocoa mix was just name brand cocoa, but Sheldon truly believed that his Meemaw’s hot cocoa was some sort of magic, and who was she to dissuade him? She gave each mug a good stir and passed one across the island to him. He smiled as he placed four marshmallows in his mug.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thank you, Penny, this is the perfect way to end the evening.” He took a sip and sighed in happiness. It tasted perfect, just like his Meemaw used to make it for him. “You know, quite unintentionally, you have also provided me with a hot beverage to comfort me after being angry with Leonard.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny laughed “I guess you’re right, and since I was also mad at Leonard, this can comfort me too.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>They both sat quietly at the island and drank their cocoa. Sheldon kept thinking over his conversation with Leonard. “Penny, may I ask you something?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Of course! Ask me anything.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why haven’t you participated in any long term relationships since you moved to this apartment?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny wasn’t sure where this came from. How to answer? “How about we sit down on the couch, and I’ll do my best to explain it to you?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I find that to be acceptable.” Sheldon got up and carefully carried his mug of hot cocoa to the couch. He reached over and placed two coasters out for their use. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny got comfortable and took a sip of her cocoa. “Kurt was my first real boyfriend. We had all these big plans to come to Hollywood and become big stars. When we got here, everything seemed to be going very well, until I found out he was cheating on me. Four years of being faithful to him and doing whatever I could to please him, only to find out that he’d been cheating on me with multiple women. Not only that, but I found out he’d been doing it all throughout our relationship. That’s when I realized that I was nothing more than a big ol’ five to him. It really messed me up. It’s just easier to keep things light, that way nobody gets hurt.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon thought about that for a while. “Can I ask you another question?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny was getting nervous, usually if Sheldon didn’t comment directly on what you said, that meant he was dissecting it. She wondered what he would find once he finished dissecting her. “Ask away.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You broke up with Leonard because he wanted you to be someone else, he wanted you to be what he wanted, and not who you already are, correct?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, basically, yes. I thought Leonard was one of the good guys, then I found out he just wanted to be able to show me off like a trophy on his arm, but I wasn’t smart enough for him, and he didn’t think I was smart enough to see right through him. It made me feel like crap.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon finished off his hot cocoa and set his mug down on his coaster. “I know that at times I have made you feel less than what you are, and I am sorry for that. I don’t want to change you, I like you just the way you are. Even when you push me out of my comfort zone, and even when you refuse to follow my rules. Maybe even especially then. You are like a hurricane to my carefully structured heart, chaos to my logic. I have no interest in any other women. Based off the failures of Kurt and Leonard, I can imagine you would find it difficult to trust anyone else. That is the kind of person you are.” Sheldon stood and held out his hands, when Penny placed hers in his, he pulled her up with him “But, Penny, I’m not going anywhere. If time is what you need to be sure a relationship with us will work, I have time.” He took the initiative and kissed her on the cheek this time “Thank you for a lovely evening, I enjoyed your company immensely. If you are amicable, I would like to take you out for a late breakfast tomorrow. I thought maybe you would be interested in joining me for the afternoon, there is a LARP festival going on tomorrow. It is an hour drive, but they will have different LARPing groups there, along with people selling gear and crafts. It’s kind of like the Renaissance Festival, but for LARPing. David has already agreed to drive us. Would you like to join me tomorrow?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sheldon...I’m not sure...” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know you aren’t a morning person, but I promise to bring you coffee.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny sighed. He was simply adorable. How was she going to resist him? Did she even want to? “Okay, I’ll be ready at nine, but no earlier.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon smiled “Perfect.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>*I’m sorry for the delay in posting, last week was rough. First my computer deleted half of my chapter and I couldn’t recover it, so I had to re-write it, and then I had some health issues come up, and then a death in the family to round things out. Thank you all for the lovely comments and kudos! You have no idea how much it means to me! I hope y’all continue to enjoy my story. I’m doing my best to keep the “voices” of the characters on par! Thank you for reading!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>*Chapter 4* </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon was in heaven. Metaphorically speaking, and not comparable to the Christian heaven his mama was always going on about. No, this was heaven on Earth. Not only were there booths upon booths of cosplay creations, but there were demonstrations, workshops on creating and maintaining characters, and there was Penny. Penny was excitedly pointing out different items and loved the reenactment workshop. She even signed them up for a holiday themed LARP weekend next month. He was satisfied with the group, as they were going for a more traditional Yule theme rather than Christmas. Normally he would have baulked at any event not scheduled further out, since he preferred a two-month notice on any overnight trip, but he was more than willing to make an exception for this. They were searching for a food vendor that met his specifications when his phone rang. He knew who it was by the specialized ring tone. “I’m sorry Penny, I have to take this.” </p><p> </p><p>“Go ahead Sweetie, I don’t mind a bit.” </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon gave Penny a small smile as he answered the phone “Hello, Meemaw! How are you doing?” </p><p> </p><p>Penny smiled, she simply adored Sheldon’s Meemaw. They chatted often, just as she chatted with Mary and Missy. They all knew that they could rely on her to tell them how Sheldon was doing. He didn’t tend to give them many details, and the guys really weren’t much of a help. They also spoke with Leonard, but Missy told her that he tended to give them the ‘wrong’ kind of info. Leonard would explain how work was going, and any new ‘quirks’ he might have developed, as where Penny would tell them if Sheldon was getting enough sleep and taking care of himself.  “Tell her I say hi!” she whispered loudly. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh, excuse me, Meemaw, but Penny says ‘hi’.” </p><p> </p><p><em> “Tell her I say hello back!”  </em> </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon relayed the message, much to Penny’s delight. </p><p> </p><p><em>  “I’m sorry  </em> <em> Moonpie </em> <em> , am I interrupting?” </em> </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon got lost in Penny’s smile and stumbled a bit to answer “No, no, of course not Meemaw, Penny and I are out at a LARPing festival.” </p><p> </p><p><em> “Is that where you dress up and beat  </em> <em> each other </em> <em>  up with foam swords?” </em> </p><p> </p><p>“Well, not always swords, but the basic principle applies, but how do you know about LARPing?” </p><p> </p><p><em> “Susan from bridge club has a nephew in Kansas who is really into that stuff, she’s always showing us pictures of him running around in the forest dressed up as an elf or something like that. So, are you and Penny going ‘LARPing’?” </em> </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon smiled proudly, even though his Meemaw couldn’t see him “Actually, we are. Penny signed us up for a weekend just before the holidays.” </p><p> </p><p><em> “Oh, so it’s next month then?” </em> </p><p> </p><p>“Yes, Penny and I will be searching for supplies after we have lunch.” </p><p> </p><p><em> “Well, it’s a good thing I called then. I know you hate short notice on things like this Moonpie, but it couldn’t be avoided. I called to invite you out for a visit two weekends from now. You see, I had a friend from town pass away a few weeks ago, and it’s put me in a bit of a sad mood. Another close friend of mine said I needed to get my mind off things, and ‘get out of my funk’.  I agreed.” </em> </p><p> </p><p>“Meemaw, I’m so sorry for your loss, but you know I don’t do funerals.” </p><p> </p><p><em> “Oh, Shelly, it’s not for a funeral, I decided to throw your mama a surprise birthday party, and I need you to come out for it.” </em> </p><p> </p><p>“But mama’s birthday isn’t until January, and it’s only the 2nd of November!” </p><p> </p><p><em> “Yes, Shelly, I’m not so old that I can’t read a calendar.” she responded sarcastically “You know Mary, she could sniff out a surprise party better than a Coonhound sniffs a coon. That’s why I have to do it  </em> now <em> , that way she doesn’t find out.” she took a deep breath “Now, I booked the Heather Bed and Breakfast because I know it’s on your approved list of places to stay when you can’t stay at home, and since the whole purpose of this is a surprise, you obviously can’t stay at you mama’s.” </em> </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon sighed “I suppose I could book a flight out. What days do I need to be there?” </p><p> </p><p><em> “Well, I was thinking if you came on a Wednesday and stayed until Monday, you could help me get everything set up and ready? I promise to make you some of your favorite treats while you’re here.” </em> </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon thought about that for a moment, while he didn’t want to change any of his daily plans, he did love Meemaw’s baking. “Tuesday would be better for me to fly out, there are less people on the plane on Tuesdays and I can get the ticket for a lower price. Would that be acceptable?” </p><p> </p><p><em> “Tuesday coming in and Tuesday going out? A whole week with my  </em> <em> Moonpie </em> <em> ? I wouldn’t mind that in the least!” </em> </p><p> </p><p>“Well, I meant Tuesday to Monday, but I suppose I could convince Gablehouser to give me the time off....” </p><p> </p><p><em> “Good! Now, let me talk to Penny.” She interrupted before he could change his mind. </em> </p><p> </p><p>“Yes, Meemaw.” </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon covered the phone with his hand and spoke quietly “Penny, my Meemaw would like to speak to you.” </p><p> </p><p>Penny’s smile widened “Of course!” she gestured enthusiastically for him to give her the phone “Hello Mrs. Tucker! How are you doing?” </p><p> </p><p><em> “Oh, I’m just fine Penny, and you just call me  </em> <em> Meemaw </em> <em> . How are you doing dear?” </em> </p><p> </p><p>Penny smirked at Sheldon; she couldn’t wait to tell him that she was given permission to call his grandmother Meemaw as well. “I’m doing fantastic! What can I do for you?” </p><p> </p><p><em> “Funny you should ask, I have a huge favor to ask of you, and I hope you’re up for the task.” </em> </p><p> </p><p>“Ask away, I’ll do whatever I can to help.” </p><p> </p><p><em> “Perfect!”  </em> <em> Meemaw </em> <em>  said happily “I’m throwing a surprise birthday party for Mary, and I invited Shelly. It’s in two weeks, and I wanted to extend the invitation to his California friends. Mary goes on and on about  </em> <em> y’all </em> <em>  every week at church. I know she would be proud as punch if you could attend, but I know if I ask Shelly to pass on the invitation, he might not make sure that happens in a timely fashion. I invited  </em> <em> y’all </em> <em>  out for Christmas last year, and since none of you showed, I’m assuming it’s because he didn’t mention it.” </em> </p><p> </p><p>Penny glared at Sheldon “You would be correct in your assumption.” </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon was worried, Penny was glaring at him, and he wasn’t sure why. He wondered what his Meemaw could have said to elicit that response.  </p><p> </p><p><em> “Well, if you could make sure the invitation gets to everyone, I would be mighty ‘precative.” </em> </p><p> </p><p>“I can definitely do that for you.” </p><p> </p><p>“Perfect! Could you also make sure my Moonpie packs something nice to wear? And I don’t mean one of those plaid abominations he insists on wearing. You have such great style, so I know you are up for the task.” </p><p> </p><p>“I can do that as well. Not a problem!” she smiled as she thought of Sheldon all dressed up. She loved seeing the man in a suit. While it might be a bit overdressed for this occasion, she was sure she could find something appropriate for him to wear that looked just as good on him. </p><p> </p><p><em> “One last favor? If it’s not too much to ask, he agreed to come out Tuesday to Tuesday, and while everyone else can just come for the weekend, I was hoping I could twist your arm into coming out with him? He doesn’t like flying, so having a friend there would really help. Plus, I could use help with decorations and such. While Sheldon has agreed to assist, he isn’t exactly the best at that kind of stuff, and this needs a woman’s touch.” </em> </p><p> </p><p><em> “ </em>I will have to see if I can get the time off, and if I have the funds for it, but I will do my best!” </p><p> </p><p><em> “Don’t you worry about a thing. Shelly will take care of it. It’s only right. Now, I will see you both in two weeks. Tell my  </em> <em> Moonpie </em> <em>  that I love him, and give him a squeeze for me! Bye!” </em> </p><p> </p><p>Penny stared at the phone for a second before holding it out to Sheldon, and here she though Mary was good at manipulating people. “Here you go,” she handed him the phone “Meemaw said to tell you goodbye, that she loves you, and she will see you soon.”  </p><p> </p><p>He took his phone back and stuck it in his pocket. “Thank you, Penny, now what did my Meemaw want to talk to you about?” </p><p> </p><p>“Why didn’t you ever tell us we were invited for Christmas?” </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon tried to keep his nervous tics under control. “Penny, please don’t be mad, I couldn’t invite you.” </p><p> </p><p>Penny folded her arms over her chest “And why not? Are you ashamed of us? Of me?” </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon’s shoulders and head dropped in defeat “Of course not. I didn’t invite you, because if I did, you would have come, and since I didn’t want to go myself, I couldn’t invite you.” </p><p> </p><p>“Sheldon, why wouldn’t you want to go home for Christmas?” </p><p> </p><p>He looked pleadingly at her “Penny, you know how I feel about Christmas, going home is even worse. My mother makes me go to church for the Christmas pageant, then Christmas Eve service, then Christmas day service, and so on, and so on. She has the family over for a huge Christmas dinner and I have to dress up and hold hands for prayer, and presents! All the presents!” his voice sounded panicked, even to his own ears “It’s all too much. I just can’t do it.” </p><p> </p><p>Penny couldn’t stay mad at him, while she didn’t agree with his views on Christmas, she could at least understand them. Sheldon had explained before about how he felt in regards to present giving. She thought it was a bit sad, she gave gifts every year, and never felt the need to keep tabs. It said something about his upbringing, but she wasn’t sure what. “I get it Sweetie, but next time, just talk to us.” </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon scoffed “Do you honestly believe that if Wolowitz knew, he would abstain from going to keep me from being uncomfortable?” </p><p> </p><p>Penny thought about that for a second “Well, no, but do you honestly believe that I wouldn’t go all ‘Junior Rodeo’ on his ass if he tried it?” </p><p> </p><p>“This is true. I apologize, Penny. I’ll make sure to tell you next time.” </p><p> </p><p>Penny wrapped her arm through his “Good! Now that that’s settled, let’s find us some food and we can discuss our trip to Texas!” </p><p> </p><p>---------------------------------------------------------------------------- </p><p> </p><p>They’d found a vendor that was cooking turkey legs over an open flame. Sheldon declared this to be the best option for lunch since they could see how the food was being prepared. It didn’t stop him from asking the poor man a million questions about his food handling procedures, but luckily the guy had a sense of humor about it all, and answered every question with patience and understanding. They found a half empty table and sat down across from one another. There were two other people at the other end, a man and a woman, both dressed similar to many of the other people walking around in costume. The man had long red hair and a full beard to match, the woman had dark brown, almost black, hair braided down to her waist.   </p><p> </p><p>“I don’t understand. Why do I have to make a new character before we go? Why can’t I just be Queen Penelope?” </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon finished chewing and swallowed before answering “What kind of Queen would be fighting with only one knight? Where is your army? It doesn’t make any sense. We can create another character that is just as good.” </p><p> </p><p>Penny pouted “But, I like Queen Penelope. It isn’t fair.” </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon raised an eyebrow “I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase ‘life is not fair’, Penny. While we’ll be rushed to complete a full character profile, we should be able to manage. Provided we can both find suitable attire here today, that is.” </p><p> </p><p>“Sheldon, we have almost a whole month. How would we be rushed?” </p><p> </p><p>“Penny, Penny, Penny.” He put his turkey leg on his plate and wiped his hands with his napkin and leaned forward. “We will need to create a full backstory on your character, calculate all your stats, determine which class level you are, what race you belong to, and what your alliance is. In addition, we will need to familiarize ourselves with the weapons of our choosing, and will need to purchase or make any of our gear. Bear in mind that we also just agreed to go to Texas in two weeks, which will take time away from our preparations for this. We’ll be lucky if we’re ready in time.” </p><p> </p><p>“Excuse me”  </p><p> </p><p>Penny and Sheldon turned to the two people sitting at the other end of the table. </p><p> </p><p>The woman smiled “I don’t mean to interrupt, but we couldn’t help but overhear. Your character is a Queen?” </p><p> </p><p>Penny smiled in response “Technically I’ve only played her in Age of Conan, but I had hoped to use her in the event we are going to.” </p><p> </p><p>The woman leaned forward, obviously interested in the conversation. “Oooo! Which event?”  </p><p> </p><p>“We just signed up for the Yuletide weekend with Melvador.” </p><p> </p><p>“Hey! That’s our gang!” The woman reached out and held out a hand “Hi, my name’s Alice, and this is my fiancé Dirk.” </p><p> </p><p>Penny shook the proffered hand “My name is Penny, and this is my Sheldon.” </p><p> </p><p>“Hello Penny and her Sheldon, it’s nice to meet you.” Alice said with a smirk. </p><p> </p><p>Penny laughed when she saw the look on Sheldon’s face, he looked a little off. “Technically he’s not ‘my Sheldon’ per se, but he is Sheldon, and he is my friend, and my date for the day.” That last part brought a smile to his face, so she must have done something right. </p><p> </p><p>“Hello. My name is Dr. Sheldon Cooper, it’s nice to meet you.” Sheldon nodded in acknowledgement.  </p><p> </p><p>“Doctor you say?” Dirk piped in, clearly interested in meeting Sheldon. </p><p> </p><p>“Yes, I’m a theoretical physicist at Cal Tech.” Sheldon replied enthusiastically. </p><p> </p><p>“I did my undergrad at Cal Tech. I have a doctorate in chemical engineering. Scientist by day, nerd by night.” Dirk replied. </p><p> </p><p>“Really....where did you attend grad school?” Sheldon inquired. </p><p> </p><p>“Stamford. I loved it there, but missed home, so I moved back to California after graduating.” </p><p> </p><p>As Sheldon and Dirk got to talking, Alice turned to Penny. “I hope Sheldon is looking for a new friend, because Dirk is going to latch on. While most people here are nerds like us, not everyone has a doctorate. He loves talking science-y stuff, and I’m not much help on that front.” </p><p> </p><p>“Well, you should be forewarned, Sheldon is a certified genius, and he isn’t shy about making sure you know it,” she replied conspiratorially “and I’m no help on that front either. I also don’t think I can be classified as a nerd. This is my first time attending something like this.” </p><p> </p><p>“I think just being here classifies you as a nerd. A noob, but still a nerd.” Alice laughed. </p><p> </p><p>“A noob is someone new to something, or something like that, right?” Penny couldn’t remember. She’d heard the boys use the word before, but she only ever understood half of what they say. </p><p> </p><p>Alice smiled “Pretty much. It usually refers to someone new and inexperienced with whatever you’re doing,” she waved the comment aside “but don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it. Everyone here loves to help. We tend to be pretty open to new people.” </p><p> </p><p>“Thank goodness.” Penny said in relief “I love the guys, but it’ll be nice to have a girl to talk to about this stuff.” </p><p> </p><p>Alice reached into her pouch, pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled something down “Here, this is my card, but it has all my contact info on it. I wrote my cell and personal email on there as well. We can get to know each other better before Yule. We definitely need more girls in the group.” </p><p> </p><p>Penny looked at the business card and back up at Alice. “Thanks! You make costumes?” </p><p> </p><p>“Yes. Dirk and I make a wide variety of clothing, armor, and accessories. That’s actually my nine to five. I’m a seamstress by trade.” </p><p> </p><p>“That is so cool! Do you have something that might fit me? I've been informed that I’m on a time frame.” Penny smirked. </p><p> </p><p>Alice laughed “I’m pretty sure we can hook you up, but not until after we get dessert from the Bundt Cake King. He makes the best cinnamon swirl bundt cakes I’ve ever tasted.” </p><p> </p><p>“Yes, Please!” </p><p> </p><p>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </p><p> </p><p>“I think this one should fit you.”  </p><p> </p><p>Penny wandered over to where Sheldon was standing. On a mannequin was the most beautiful costume she had ever seen. Tight chocolate brown leather pants, a hunter green tunic, matching brown leather belt with satchel, a thick cape a few shades darker than the tunic with faux fur lining the edge, and matching wool felt hat. The whole ensemble had the most beautiful embroidery, all done in a silvery thread. She lightly ran her fingers over the pattern in awe. </p><p> </p><p>“I can take it down for you, we have a fitting tent in the back. I agree with Sheldon, it should fit you.” Alice said from behind her. </p><p> </p><p>Penny nodded, and watched as Alice carefully removed the pieces. She wasn’t sure how much this was going to set her back, but if needed, she was willing to part with a few pairs of designer shoes to make this happen. She followed Alice to the back of the tent. Just as she was about to step into the dressing tent, Sheldon caught her attention. </p><p> </p><p>“I will wait here and discuss armor options with Dirk. I’m confident that will suit you perfectly, but you will need the proper accessories.” </p><p> </p><p>Penny nodded and stepped behind the curtain. </p><p> </p><p>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </p><p> </p><p>“Sheldon, I said no.” </p><p> </p><p>“Penny, it is customary for the gentleman to pay on a date, and correct me if I’m wrong, but this is a date.”  </p><p> </p><p>Penny pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers. She adored Sheldon, but sometimes he drove her crazy. “It <em> is </em> a date, but you can’t buy all this for me!” </p><p> </p><p>“Why not? We both needed clothing, armor, weaponry, and other accoutrements for our upcoming larping experience. We’ve already discussed our time restraints, and we were able to find everything we needed right here.” </p><p> </p><p>Penny could tell that Sheldon was genuinely confused. “Sweetie, while it is customary for a guy to pay on a date, that usually refers to dinner, or movie tickets, or things like that. Not that they spend hundreds of dollars on costuming.” She explained patiently.  </p><p> </p><p>“So, if I took you out to an expensive dinner that cost hundreds of dollars it would be acceptable?” he scoffed “I find that ridiculous. We would consume the food, and get nothing more out of it. With this, we can get multiple uses! It is much more economical to spend date money this way. Plus, I saw your face when you came out to look at yourself in the full length mirror. That, in and of itself, is well worth whatever I spend on all this.” </p><p> </p><p>“That’s very sweet of you, but I would never let you spend hundreds of dollars on a dinner, Sheldon.” Penny argued. </p><p> </p><p>“What if it was a charity dinner? Those are very expensive, but the money goes to a good cause. Are you really so stubborn?” Sheldon volleyed back. </p><p> </p><p>“Pot, meet kettle.” Penny rolled her eyes. </p><p> </p><p>“If I may interject here?” Alice quietly interrupted. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh, Alice, I am so sorry, you must have some strong opinions of us after all this.” Penny replied sheepishly. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh, no, you’re fine. I just wanted to say, technically you are both right. Penny, it is the social norm for the guy to pay on a date, and some dates cost more than others. As long as the purchases are being offered by the other person, it could be considered rude to decline unless you have a valid reason.” she turned to Sheldon “And Sheldon, while it is widely accepted that the man pays on a date, that doesn’t mean you buy exorbitantly priced gifts on said date. Especially since you two are still newly dating.” </p><p> </p><p>“Ah-ha!” Penny shouted “Gifts! You hate giving and receiving gifts, that is why you didn’t go home for Christmas. Remember the whole gift debt thing?” </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon sighed “Penny, do you not remember how you gave me Leonard Nemoy’s DNA? While that was not the intended gift, the fact that you risked your job by asking for an autograph, and stealing the napkin it was on, meant more to me than you will ever know. Growing up, my family bought me presents that <em> they </em> thought I wanted, instead of what I actually asked for.” he took a deep breath “If you insist on using my own gift giving rule against me, then it behooves me to point out that I will always be in your debt for that gift. Not just because of the gift itself, but because that was the first time I ever felt that someone really understood me. It was the first time that I felt loved.” </p><p> </p><p>There was a slight pause as the two looked into each other's eyes. “Yeah....” Alice stammered “I’m going to have to go with Sheldon on this one, Penny.” She took the card that Sheldon held out for her and started the transaction before Penny could argue. If she did, Alice might have to hit her new friend over the head with a foam mallet. </p><p> </p><p>“Sheldon. That’s not fair, and you know it.” Penny whined. </p><p> </p><p>“I’ll remind you again about that saying...” Sheldon smirked. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>6. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>*Thank you for sticking with me, and thank you to all of you that have commented! For those sending me well wishes, I am doing much better. I’m seeing a specialist, and they are pretty sure they know what the problem is. Thank you again, for your support, it means the world to me! I hope you are enjoying reading this as much as I’m enjoying writing it. I’m already coming up with other ideas for other stories about Sheldon and Penny. Please continue to write me comments, they always make me smile! (Even if you write me about something you didn’t like, I’ll still be happy just because I’m getting feedback!)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>*Chapter 5* </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>It was dark outside by time they returned to the apartment building on North Robles Avenue. Sheldon and Penny lugged all their packages up the four flights of stairs while commenting on different aspects of their day. Just as they were reaching the third floor, they heard approaching voices and footsteps below them, and by time they reached the fourth floor Raj and Howard had caught up with them. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey guys! What are you up to tonight?” Penny greeted them once they all were on the landing. </p><p> </p><p>“Leonard didn’t know when you would be home, so he invited us over for an Age of Conan night. You two wanna join us? We haven’t ordered dinner yet.” Howard replied encouragingly. </p><p> </p><p>“What do you say, Sheldor? Wanna level up?” Penny smiled. </p><p> </p><p>“I think that will be acceptable, but first we should deliver these packages to your apartment. We should eat first, so we don’t get any food particles on our respective laptops. Howard, Raj, can you please make sure Leonard orders dinner?” </p><p> </p><p>Howard rubbed his hands together “What are we thinking? Thai? Chinese?”  </p><p> </p><p>“It’s Friday, and Friday is Chinese night. You know that.” Sheldon replied sternly. </p><p> </p><p>“Yes, but it’s also vintage game night, and we’re not doing that either.” Penny pointed out. </p><p> </p><p>“True” Sheldon thought for a moment, completely oblivious to his friend’s reactions “I propose pizza as a viable option since Penny and I were out last night and thus was unable to consume it.” </p><p> </p><p>Raj quickly whispered to Howard, who then shook his head “No....I’m pretty sure this is our Sheldon, although alien possession is a valid theory.”  </p><p> </p><p>“Gentlemen” Sheldon scolded “While my routine is rigid, I’m not completely inflexible. To suggest I’d been possessed by aliens is preposterous. One would assume that if I was, I - the alien in question - would do my best to blend in, I would ardently adhere to known idiosyncrasies as to not arouse suspicion.” </p><p> </p><p>“Nope, this is definitely our Sheldon.” Howard told Raj out of the corner of his mouth. Raj just nodded his head quickly in agreement. </p><p> </p><p>Penny sighed “Come on Sweetie, let's go put this stuff down, my arms are getting tired. We can talk more about it once we get back to your apartment.” </p><p> </p><p>“Very well, Penny.” they walked over to her door and she used her keys to unlock her apartment as he continued “Maybe we should consider ordering from Greenleaf, we could order the Moroccan Bowl we looked at, and then we could split the Almond Crusted Chicken with the hummus again, but with different sides. Or maybe we could split the stir fry with the grilled citrus chicken.” </p><p> </p><p>Raj and Howard watched Sheldon closed the door after they entered Penny’s apartment. “Dude, what the heck is going on here?” </p><p> </p><p>“I’m not sure Raj, but we better go prepare Leonard.” </p><p> </p><p>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </p><p> </p><p>Leonard was in a sour mood. Bad enough he spent the whole day at work thinking about how Sheldon and Penny were off on some date, but even worse to see the results of said date. They ordered dinner from Greenleaf since Sheldon all but insisted, and he had to watch as they carefully split their meals in half to share with each other, then they spent a good five minutes comparing the meal to the one they had last night. Howard and Raj were no help, the two of them kept asking questions, and the next thing he knew there were plans to go there next week so “everyone could try it out”. Sheldon, the one with a tight schedule, was willing to replace next Thursday’s pizza night with a trip to Greenleaf! After that, they went online to play Age of Conan, and he had to listen to ‘Sheldor’ and ‘Queen Penelope’ talk about battle plans, and watch them team up against their enemies. They both looked so happy sitting there. Penny never looked at him the way she kept looking at Sheldon. He’d had enough, he slammed his laptop closed in aggravation. “Are we really going to pretend that nothing is going on?” </p><p> </p><p>Howard continued to frantically press the controls as he fought his opponent. “Are you referring to the blossoming love of your best friend and ex-girlfriend? Or the fact that I am totally kicking this guy's ass?” </p><p> </p><p>“He’s probably talking about Sheldon and Penny, but I don’t know what he means by pretending nothing is going on.” Said Raj as he was mashing on his controls with equal fervor. </p><p> </p><p>Penny had just finished off her opponent, so she quickly saved, logged off, and put her computer on the coffee table in front of her. “Leonard, why are you so angry about this?” </p><p> </p><p>“Are you kidding me? You and Sheldon, Sheldon and you. Sheldon and Penny!” he threw his hands in the air, flopped back in the arm chair, and thumped his head back “Does no one else see how weird this is?” Leonard asked the room. </p><p> </p><p>“Wow, we’ve been on exactly two dates, and you’re freaking out?” she waited for him to look at her again “Leonard, we broke up, you don’t get to have a say in who I date. I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable, but that’s the truth. We aren’t rubbing in it your face or anything, so what’s up with the attitude?” </p><p> </p><p>“First me, then Raj, and now Sheldon. Are you planning to sleep with Howard next?” Leonard practically shouted.  </p><p> </p><p>The whole room went quiet. Penny stood “Screw you, Leonard.” and she walked out of the room, across the hall to her apartment, and gently closed her door, not knowing the pandemonium she’d left behind in her wake. </p><p> </p><p>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ </p><p> </p><p>Leonard regretted it the moment he said it. He quickly stood up to follow Penny, but Sheldon was faster, and he blocked the doorway. “Leonard, I warned you before, I will not tolerate your unwarranted disrespect towards Penny.” </p><p> </p><p>Leonard sighed heavily “I knew I shouldn’t have said it the moment I started speaking. I was headed over to apologize, not make things worse.” he’d much rather take it out on Sheldon anyway. He pushed his glasses up and gestured to Sheldon to move “Move and I’ll go apologize to her.” </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon stepped out of the way and waved Leonard to proceed him. Sheldon followed closely behind, there was no way he was going to subject Penny to any more of Leonard's nonsense. He would ensure Leonard apologized, and then he would do his best to comfort Penny, although it wasn’t his strong suit.  </p><p> </p><p>Leonard knocked on the door. Penny whipped the door open, saw who was on the other side and went to close it again. He quickly placed his hand to stop the door’s motion. “Penny, wait.” Penny sighed and opened the door.  </p><p> </p><p>“What do you want Leonard?” She huffed. </p><p> </p><p>“I came to apologize. It wasn’t fair of me to say that to you. I was frustrated, and I lashed out at you. I shouldn’t have said that. Forgive me?” </p><p> </p><p>“I will forgive you on one condition.” </p><p> </p><p>Leonard pushed up his glasses and rushed to answer “Name it.”  </p><p> </p><p>“I don’t expect you to accept Sheldon and I dating, but I do expect respect. You are allowed to feel angry and confused about this, but you are not allowed to attack either one of us about it. If you need time to come to terms with this, we can give you time.” Penny looked at Sheldon standing guard behind Leonard before looking back at him “I can’t speak for both of us, but this is all new to us as well. We don’t even have a label for what we are. We are just trying this out, and so far, it makes sense. I don’t want to lose our friendship over this. Can you be okay with that?” </p><p> </p><p>Leonard thought hard about everything that happened in the last 24 hours. It all seemed to be going so fast, but Penny was right, it wasn’t fair of him to attack them. He just felt so.....so jealous. Inadequate. Why Sheldon? What did he have that Leonard didn’t? He had some serious thinking to do.  “Absolutely. I don’t want to lose our friendship either. I do think I need some time though. Seeing you both together at the same time is the hardest part.” he saw Penny was about to say something, so he raised his hand to stop her “I’m not asking you not to see each other, just give me some time to adjust to this, and understand that right now, I’m not happy about it.” </p><p> </p><p>Penny gave him a small smile “I think we can do that. Why don’t you go back to the gang? I think I’m going to tuck in for the night.” </p><p> </p><p>Normally, he would try to convince her to change her mind, come back over, and finish the game, but he wasn’t joking about needed time. Maybe he needed to take a sabbatical, he had plenty of vacation time. Maybe he should take a trip, he could always go visit his father. “Okay, I’ll...I’ll see you around?” Leonard said nervously. </p><p> </p><p>Penny nodded “Sure.”  </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon waited for Leonard to return to their apartment before turning back to Penny. “I’ll go get your computer for you. I’ll return in a moment.” </p><p> </p><p>“Thank you, Sweetie.” </p><p> </p><p>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </p><p> </p><p>Penny had just sat down on the couch when Sheldon walked in with a laptop bag slung over his shoulders and a tea tray filled with the fixings for hot beverages. Any leftover frustrations she had melted away. “Sweetie, you didn’t have to bring over tea, you are so sweet.” </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon waved away her comment as he walked toward the kitchen “Nonsense, Penny. You are upset. I am upset. Social convention dictates that we need hot beverages, and since I’m not confident that you have the supplies needed, I brought my own.” He placed the tray on the island, then carefully slipped both their laptops out of his bag and placed them on her coffee table. “I don’t know if you are interested, but we could continue our game on another server after we’ve consumed our hot beverage.” </p><p> </p><p>Penny stood and placed her hand on his shoulder and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you, Sheldon. I think that would be lovely.” </p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t help but smile a little “Enough of that nonsense.” he walked back to the island “You have your choice of Peppermint tea, Earl Grey tea, Matcha tea, Chamomile tea, Echinacea tea, and Ginger tea.” </p><p> </p><p>Penny leaned over on the island to have a better look at the selection. “I don’t really drink tea very often, what do you recommend?” </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon gave it some thought “Well, the Chamomile tea would be ideal since it helps promote a good night’s rest, but I think you would enjoy the flavor of the Peppermint tea.” </p><p> </p><p>“Peppermint it is then!” Penny sat back and smiled. “Just call me ‘Peppermint Penny!’” she laughed. </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon gave her a quizzical look, but quickly connected the dots. He chuckled. He filled the tea kettle and set it on the stove to heat up. He took one Peppermint tea bag, and one Chamomile bag, then placed them in their respective mugs. “Penny, I find myself in an emotional quagmire, and you are normally the person I would turn to in a situation like this, but this particular dilemma involves you, so I am unsure of the proper protocol.”  </p><p> </p><p>“Well, you could always pretend I’m someone else.” Penny shrugged. </p><p> </p><p>He rolled his eyes. “Penny, I said I usually go to you for this kind of thing, indicating that I need to speak to you, my best friend. How does <em> me </em>  pretending  <em> you </em> are someone else help?” Sheldon huffed. </p><p> </p><p>“Hmmmmm.....” Penny metaphorically scratched her head “I got it! Why don’t you pretend that I’m me, but a different me? Like a clone or something?” Penny smiled proudly. </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon tilted his head “I suppose that could work; I could always pretend you are a Penny from an alternate universe that is also my best friend in that dimension as well.” </p><p> </p><p>“Whatever, Sweetie. If it works, go for it.” </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon visibly brightened “Hello, other Penny. How are you today?” Sheldon asked politely. </p><p> </p><p>She gave him a ‘really?’ look and rolled her eyes slightly. She blew out a breath and shook her head, smiling in slight amusement at his antics, and then got into character. “Hello, Moonpie, I’m fine, what about you?” she smirked. </p><p> </p><p>“Penny, only my Meemaw calls me Moonpie.” He grumbled. </p><p> </p><p>Penny waved her finger at him “Ah, ah, ah. In <em> my </em> universe, I call Sheldon, ‘Moonpie’ all the time. It’s his favorite nickname from me.” She rested both her elbows on the island, leaned forward, placed her chin in her hands, and gave him a playful grin. </p><p> </p><p>“Since I have no evidence to prove the contrary, I will have to accept the premise that in your universe, you do indeed call me ‘Moonpie’, and it's my favorite nickname from you.” He laughed his breathy laugh at their combined whimsy.  </p><p> </p><p>Penny giggled. “So, I repeat, how are you doing, Moonpie?” </p><p> </p><p>Just then, the tea kettle whistled. Sheldon turned off the stove, and carefully poured the hot water over the tea bags, then carefully set the kettle on the trivet. He set the timer for the appropriate amount of time for the tea to steep before answering. “Well, other Penny, I’m in quite the dilemma. See, I like the Penny in this universe, and to clarify, I mean, that I like her, as in more than just friends.” he put up his finger to stop her from interrupting “However, she was in a relationship with my roommate, and one of the main reasons they broke up, was because he declared his feelings to her, sooner than she was ready to receive and reciprocate those feelings.” he put his hand down “I am afraid if I tell her I would like to alter the relationship paradigm from a boy/girl friendship, to a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, she might think me too fast, and decide to end our dating experiment.” he paused “What should I do?” </p><p> </p><p>Penny’s heart sank. She knew Sheldon didn’t always understand emotional concepts, so explaining this might be tricky. “Sheldon, honey, my relationship with Leonard was complicated at best. Yes, he told me he loved me before I was ready to hear it, but there was so much more to it than that. He saw me as a prize, something pretty that he could flaunt to his friends. He wanted me to be smarter so we could talk about the things he liked, without trying to understand the things I liked. He took more than he gave, and he never saw anything wrong with that. Him telling me his feelings was just the nail in the coffin.” She paused for a moment to let him process “Sweetie, I don’t want you to make decisions based off what happened between me and Leonard okay?” </p><p> </p><p>“Leonard and I. But yes, I see your point.” The timer went off, so he removed the tea bags and threw them away, and then passed Penny her mug before taking a sip of his own tea. “If that is the case, do you think would be precipitous of me to ask you to consider an alteration to our relationship paradigm?” </p><p> </p><p><em> Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock “Penny, I know you’re in there!” </em> </p><p> </p><p>They heard Amy’s voice as she pounded on the door. Penny rushed over and opened it before she caught the attention of the whole building. “Amy! What are you doing here?” Penny was shoved aside as Amy stormed in. </p><p> </p><p>“Don’t play coy with me, Bestie.” Amy stopped short “Sheldon, I should have known you would be here too.” She turned back to Penny “Et tu, Brute?” </p><p> </p><p>Penny leaned around Amy “Sheldon? Do you understand what she’s talking about?” </p><p> </p><p>“Yes, ‘Et tu, Brute’ refers to the-” </p><p> </p><p>“No, I get that part, I meant what does she mean by it?” Penny interrupted. </p><p> </p><p>Amy threw her arms up “Don’t pretend not to know, you silver tongued vixen. Stuart told me that you and Sheldon hooked up. How could you do that to me?” </p><p> </p><p>Penny flopped down on the couch and place her head in her hands, before she could formulate a reply, Sheldon spoke up. “Amy, Penny didn’t do anything to you.” </p><p> </p><p>She turned on him next “At first, I thought it was a joke, there was no way that the brilliant Sheldon Cooper would refuse to solidify <em>our</em> relationship, but then turn to my bestie. And even though she is the most beautiful person I’ve even laid eyes on, after one date surely you realized that you didn’t have enough in common to maintain a relationship?” she asked dumbfounded. </p><p> </p><p>“Amy, while I understand your premise, it’s flawed. Exhibit A: the colloquial ‘opposites attract’.” he ticked off on his fingers “Exhibit B: Penny and I both enjoy Age of Conan. Exhibit C: Penny and I are both dreamers. Exhibit D: Penny and I share a love for pranks, and we are on an equal footing when preforming said pranks. Exhibit E: There is the undeniable physical chemistry. While I have previously never showed an interest in physical intimacy, after spending time with Penny, I’ve realized that I just needed the right person to have those desires. Exhibit F: -” </p><p> </p><p>Amy held up a hand “I don’t think I want to hear any more. While I can appreciate you wanting to have a relationship with someone as wonderful as Penny, I still don’t understand how Penny could agree to this!” She turned to Penny who was looking up at Sheldon as if she’d never seen him before. Amy was about to rant about how best friends don’t stab each other in the back like that, but she was finding it hard to hold on to her anger. “Penny, you are my best friend. You know that I wanted Sheldon to be my boyfriend. Please explain to me, why you would do this without even talking to me about it first?” She pleaded. </p><p> </p><p>Penny was in shock, Sheldon really wanted to explore physical intimacy with her? Everyone thought he didn’t have a deal. After all, he’d had different women throw themselves at him over the years, and he wouldn’t have even known it, if they didn’t take the time to explain it to him. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, she could figure out how she felt about all that later. She needed to focus on Amy now. “Ames, I’m sorry if you took this as some sort of betrayal of our friendship, I never meant to hurt your feelings. I didn’t talk to you about it first, because I honestly just didn’t think about it. That is no excuse, just the truth. This all happened pretty quickly, and I didn’t think it would really go anywhere, but I have really enjoyed my time with Sheldon, and like I told Leonard, we are still trying to figure all this out ourselves. I promise that I never meant anything hurtful by any of this.” She took a breath and stood up. “Can you understand that?” </p><p> </p><p>Amy hugged her tightly “Oh, Bestie, I should have known you wouldn’t have done anything to hurt me! Of course, I understand.” She let go and stepped back. “I won’t lie and say I’m not jealous. That you could succeed where I failed, is extremely disheartening, but I will get over it in time.” </p><p> </p><p>Sheldon cleared his throat. “Amy, I would like us to remain friends if possible. I enjoy conversing with you, even though I did not desire a deeper relationship as you did. I can assure you that neither one of us had any ill intent when pursuing our dating experimentation.” </p><p> </p><p>Amy looked between them with a stab of regret. She would always wonder what it would have been like if she could have convinced Sheldon to be her boyfriend.  “I would like that as well, but it may take some time.” </p><p> </p><p>There was an awkward pause. “If you don’t mind me asking, did things not work out with Stuart?” Penny asked timidly. </p><p> </p><p>“Our date was very successful, yet I found myself uninterested in another. While he is educated, we both work in completely different fields. He knows nothing about neurobiology, and I know nothing about art or comic books. While that gives us plenty to talk about – I always enjoy learning new things – it doesn’t lead to romantic feelings on my part.” </p><p> </p><p>“Sounds like me and Leonard.” Penny said under her breath. </p><p> </p><p>“Leonard and I.” Sheldon automatically replied. “Amy, it sounds like you want someone more on your level. Someone who can understand your work, or someone who can at least share your enthusiasm.” </p><p> </p><p>Amy looked down “Yes, well, I tried that. No one seems interested, or they’re not available.” </p><p> </p><p>“I bet Raj and Howard could help. After all, they are the ones who arranged for you and Sheldon to meet, right?” Penny remarked with a shrug. </p><p> </p><p>“You know, Bestie, that might not be a bad idea. Can you give me their phone numbers?” </p><p> </p><p>“They’re probably still across the hall, if you head over now, you can probably catch them.” Sheldon replied.  </p><p> </p><p>“Thank you, Sheldon. I’m sorry again for bursting over here like this.” Amy turned to Penny. “See you later, Bestie?” </p><p> </p><p>“Sure Amy, we can meet up for a girl's night sometime next week. How’s that sound?” Penny smiled. </p><p> </p><p>“Sounds great!” </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>7. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>*So....some things are about to happen. Let me know what you think! As always, thank you for reading, thank you for commenting, and thank you for believing in this story! You are all my heroes!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>*Chapter 6*</span>
  
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  <span>Leonard was packing when he heard a knock on the door. He shuffled quickly into the living room and opened the door. “Amy!” he said with surprise “Hi. Uhhh....Sheldon’s not here.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, I know. I was just over at Penny’s. Is Raj or Howard still here?” She tried to look around him into the living room.</span>
  
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</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. No, actually they left a little bit ago.” He replied uncomfortably.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s unfortunate. I was coming to enlist their help with finding a new paramour to replace Sheldon, since he is no longer a viable option for my dating needs.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Leonard gestured for her to come in. He closed the door behind her and automatically went to the kitchen. “Can I offer you a bottle of water or a soda? I’d offer you a hot beverage, but Sheldon took the tea kettle over to Penny’s.” He tried to keep the small bit of bitterness out of his voice.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Amy settled on the arm </span>
  <span>chair,</span>
  <span> she didn’t want to sit on the couch near his spot. The wound was still too fresh. “Water would be fine, thank you.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Leonard grabbed two waters and gave one to Amy. He sat on the extra chair that was still out from when Raj and Howard were over. He twisted the top off his water and took a sip. “So, what exactly are you looking to have Raj and Howard do?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I assumed they could help me find a second match online since they were the ones who introduced me to Sheldon in the first place.”</span>
  
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</p><p>
  <span>“What about Stuart?” </span>
  
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  <span>“Stuart is very nice, but we agreed to just be friends. There were no sparks. It was rather disappointing to be honest.” Amy replied.</span>
  
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</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry to hear that, but are you sure you want to hop back out there? Don’t you want to just take some time to be single and figure things out?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Amy looked at him incredulously. “No, I’ve waited my whole life to find someone to be with, and the first guy not only refuses to have a relationship with me, but instead falls for my best friend.” she shook her head “No, I want to find someone to share my life with. I’m not getting any younger, and I would like to have children. I need to start somewhere, but I definitely don’t want to sit around moping while having to see Sheldon all happy at work. I’m sorry, but I’m just not ready for that. I need to get myself back out there.”</span>
  
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  <span>“I can understand that.” he took another sip and then looked down into the bottle in his hands “I was packing before you got here.” Leonard said dejectedly.</span>
  
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  <span>“Packing? Are you moving out?” Amy asked.</span>
  
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  <span>Leonard rushed to explain “No! Not moving out, just</span>
  <span>.....</span>
  <span> going on a trip. I need some time, time to adjust, and time to process. So, I’m taking a short sabbatical.” he shrugged “I have plenty of vacation time, and since I already promised to go to Texas for Sheldon’s mom’s birthday, I figured why not have some fun first.”</span>
  
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</p><p>
  <span>“That’s a great idea! Where are you going?” Amy replied curiously.</span>
  
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  <span>“I haven’t booked the flights yet, but my plan is to leave first thing tomorrow and do a tour of my favorite Civil War battlefields. There is a group in Gettysburg that does reenactments, run by a friend of mine from Princeton. He already agreed to allow me to join them next weekend.” He put his water down on the coffee table and smiled “I’m actually pretty excited for it. David knows a place that can hook me up with everything I need, so it’s just a matter of getting there.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
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  <span>Amy leaned forward in her seat excitedly “I have some things you can borrow! I used to do reenactments all the time. My mother thought it was a good way for me to appreciate history. Granted, I can’t help you with the clothing, but I have plenty of other historically accurate supplies. I have several mess kits, a few canvases for tents, bedding, and general linens and such. I don’t mind loaning them to you if you’re interested?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Leonard considered her offer for a moment, then an idea bloomed. “Why don’t you come with me? I’m sure David won’t mind, and I haven’t booked the plane tickets or hotels yet.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Amy’s eyes lit up “Are you sure you wouldn’t mind? I’m a bit of a history buff, and I’m told I can get a little overbearing when it comes to historical accuracy.”</span>
  
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</p><p>
  <span>Leonard smiled “I minored in history, that’s how David and I know each other. I promise you won’t bother me at all, I’m all about historical accuracy.” Leonard had no clue Amy was so into history. When he thought about it, there really was a lot that he didn’t know about her. Having another person there would certainly help keep his mind off Sheldon and Penny. Who knows, maybe it was exactly what they both needed.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
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  <span>“Thank you, Leonard.” she stood, she had a lot of packing to do “I think I will join you. I’m confident that this will be a great distraction from our current situation.”</span>
  
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  <span>Leonard smiled. It was like she read his mind. “I agree.”</span>
  
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  <span>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span>
  
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  <span>“Meemaw, you didn’t!” Missy exclaimed.</span>
  
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  <span>“I most certainly did! And why not? It’s the perfect opportunity to see just how serious those two are.” Connie scoffed.</span>
  
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  <span>“Does mama know how much this is costing you?” Missy finished addressing the last invitation to the ‘surprise party’ they were throwing for their mother.</span>
  
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  <span>Connie stopped what she was doing and leveled her granddaughter with a pointed finger and a pointed stare “You mind your business young lady. I have saved plenty of my bingo winnings over the last couple of years, and I can spend it however I want. If I want to use that money to help push Shelly along to the alter, then that’s my business. Mary doesn’t need to know or worry about it. Understood?”</span>
  
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  <span>“Yes, ma’am.” Missy knew better than to argue when her </span>
  <span>Meemaw</span>
  <span> took that tone of voice. </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Connie sat back in her chair “Once we set the plan in motion, you’ll see, it’ll all be worth it.”</span>
  
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  <span>---------------------------------------------------------------------------</span>
  
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  <span>Sheldon left Penny’s apartment fairly happy. They never got around to finishing their conversation about changing their relationship status, but they did get discuss their schedules for the week, and he managed to schedule another date for Monday. He opened the door of his apartment and saw Leonard at his computer with two suitcases next to him. “Leonard, what is all this?”</span>
  
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</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Sheldon, give me a second.” Leonard finished typing and clicked a few buttons before giving his full attention to his roommate. “Okay, what?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I said, ‘Leonard, what is all this?’” Sheldon huffed.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Leonard looked around momentarily confused. “Oh! You mean my baggage? I’m leaving on a vacation in the morning.” He smiled.</span>
  
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</p><p>
  <span>“You can’t leave in the morning! Tomorrow is paintball day. If we’re one man short, it will throw everything off!”</span>
  
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  <span>Leonard sighed loudly “Sheldon, I told you. I need some time. This is how I’m taking my time. I’ll be back in three weeks.”</span>
  
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  <span>Sheldon carefully set the tea tray on the island and turned to Leonard with a long-suffering look. He tried very hard not to stomp his foot in frustration. “Leonard, you can’t be gone for three weeks, you promised to attend my mother’s birthday party.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Leonard stood quickly and held his hands in front of him in a calming manner “I know, and I’ll be there. That’s why I won’t be back to the </span>
  <em>
    <span>apartment</span>
  </em>
  <span> for three weeks. The first twelve days I’ll be spending in Gettysburg with Dave, then I’ll fly down for the party. After that, I’m making a stop in Vegas for a couple of days to see a show and have some fun. I’ll return home after that.”</span>
  
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  <span>Sheldon considered this for a moment. On one hand, they would be short a player for paint ball. On the other, he wouldn’t have to be as circumspect with his relationship with Penny, because Leonard wouldn’t be around. “Will you be home for Thanksgiving? We all told Howard we would be there.” He reminded him.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Leonard took a cautious breath of relief. He expected more push back, especially since he was violating Section 23, subsection 4, article number 5, stating that the roommate in question must provide the other roommate with a </span>
  <span>72 hour</span>
  <span> notice on all vacations, unless the roommate has been invited to see the Cern Large Hadron Collider, in which the notification clause may be waived by both parties. “Yes, I’ll be back for Thanksgiving.” He saw Sheldon relax his shoulders. Leonard figured now was as good a time as any to have the next part of the conversation. “Hey, buddy? Listen, I’m really sorry about getting so mad at you.” he pushed up his glasses nervously “I’m not going to lie and say I’m not still mad, because I am, but I don’t necessarily want to be. It’s just going to take me some time, and I think this trip will help me sort everything out.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
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  <span>Sheldon stood up straight and nodded. “I understand. I’m not sorry for asking Penny out, and I won’t apologize for it, so I hope you’re not waiting for me to.”</span>
  
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</p><p>
  <span>Leonard shook his head “No, no. I didn’t think you would. I can’t even blame you for that.” he took a deep breath “There’s something else you should know. I didn’t want you to hear about it from someone else, but Amy is going with me on this trip.” He closed his eyes, scrunched up his shoulders and face, and waited for the outburst that never came. He carefully opened one eye.</span>
  
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</p><p>
  <span>“Leonard, why do you look like that?” Sheldon asked in genuine confusion. </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re not mad?”</span>
  
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  <span>“Why would I be mad? You and Amy are friends. Friends can go on vacation together. You both indicated you needed time to process the concept of Penny and I dating. I see nothing wrong in this. It does pose some issues for our game tomorrow, which is inconvenient, but I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
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  <span>Leonard looked at Sheldon skeptically. “So, you’re totally fine if I go on a </span>
  <span>three week</span>
  <span> vacation with Amy? The girl you almost dated?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Why wouldn’t I be?” he glared “Really, Leonard. Even if you were going on a romantic getaway with Amy, I wouldn’t be concerned. You are both intelligent individuals, capable of making your own decisions.” Sometimes Leonard could be very stupid for someone with an IQ of 173. It amazed Sheldon how little Leonard seemed to think of him.</span>
  
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  <span>Leonard stared at Sheldon, not sure what to make of this conversation, but he got the feeling that it would be in his best interest to accept it as it was, and to get out of here as quickly as possible. “Okay, well</span>
  <span>....I</span>
  <span> have an early flight, and I’m picking up Amy on the way, so I’m going to head to bed. I’ll see you in a few weeks.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Good night, Leonard. Have a safe trip, and give my regards to Amy.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Leonard walked down the hall to his room shaking his head.</span>
  
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  <span>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span>
  
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  <span>Sheldon was in a pickle. It was paintball day. Luckily, they were able to recruit Alice and Dirk to join their team to make sure they had enough players. His problem was that Penny was on the opposite team, and while that wasn’t unusual, he was unsure of the protocol since they were in the dating stage of their relationship. If they were only friends, or classified as boyfriend/girlfriend, he would know what to do, but because they were in a sort of dating limbo, he was completely confounded. If he shot her, would she become upset? If she shot him, should he congratulate her? This is why he liked contracts. It helped him to know exactly how he should behave. Society and its endless amount of senseless unwritten rules constantly changing with no notice or explanation. It made it extremely difficult to keep up. </span>
  
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  <span>Dirk could tell that Sheldon was over thinking something. He often wore that exact expression himself, so he knew what he was looking at. “Hey, what’s going on in that brain of yours?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sheldon looked around to make sure they were still unnoticed behind the barricade. The two of them were placed in charge of guarding the flag. Penny and Bernadette were the other team’s ‘muscle’, so it fell to Dirk and Sheldon to play counterpart for their team. “This thing with Penny. We are more than friends, but not boyfriend/girlfriend, and so I don’t know what the protocol is if we come face to face in battle. It’s maddening.”</span>
  
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  <span>Dirk laughed “I totally get it, but Penny seems like a pretty tough woman. I’m sure she can handle herself. Furthermore, I’m pretty sure if you gave her quarter, she’d shoot your ass, take our flag, and dance on the grave of our lost glory.”</span>
  
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  <span>Sheldon sighed “I suppose you’re right.”</span>
  
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  <span>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span>
  
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  <span>On the other side of the battlefield Penny was delegating. “Raj, you’re in charge of guarding the flag. Stuart, I want you to hide in the bushes over there” she pointed to a spot up on a hill “Anyone manages to get past Raj, take them out and reclaim our flag. Alice and I will take point and steal the blue flag before they even know it’s missing.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“No worries, Penny, I will guard this flag with my life.” Raj clutched the flag to his heart.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Everyone </span>
  <span>move</span>
  <span> out!” Penny lead everyone but Raj out of the small shack used as their base. She didn’t see Raj smile happily, pull out his small flask, take a sip, then sit on the flag. Penny stood guard while Stuart got into position, then she headed out, followed closely by Alice. “Thanks again for coming out today, Sheldon was freaking out about our numbers.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, no problem! Thanks for inviting us. Dirk and Sheldon have been texting non-stop, so this gives them an opportunity to catch up in person.” She laughed.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m glad! I’m sure we’ll be hanging out a lot over the next few weeks. Sheldon is determined to learn everything he can about </span>
  <span>Melvador</span>
  <span> before our campaign.” She scanned the area, and they quickly moved to the next cover. </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine with that. I need a girlfriend that understands my struggles.” She giggled.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I get it. Sheldon was driving me crazy last night. Every time I said ‘me and Leonard’, he had to chime in with ‘Leonard and I’. It was so frustrating. It makes me feel like an idiot.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I can actually help you with that one!” Alice exclaimed “Your use of ‘me and Leonard’ is actually grammatically correct, ‘Leonard and I’ is just a personal preference. Sheldon is being unnecessarily pedantic. The best part is, he knows it. His IQ is too high not to know it. </span>
  <span>So</span>
  <span> when you call him out on it, he won’t have a thing to say.” She grinned widely.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny’s eyes lit up “Thank you! I am totally going to mess with him. This will be great.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Alice smirked “He really does have it coming.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Both girls laughed.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“She saw me. I know she saw me.” Sheldon panicked.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“So? Just keep an eye on her, and if she comes out from behind that wall, shoot her.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“There she is again! She just keeps popping up and looking at me before ducking back down!”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Sheldon, relax! If she pops up again, take a shot!”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, I can do this.” Sheldon mumbled to himself. He set up aim and waited for her to come out of hiding. He saw her look up over the top of the </span>
  <span>four foot</span>
  <span> wall and took a shot. He hit the wall directly below where she was standing just a moment ago.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I guess that’s one way to avoid the issue.” Dirk rolled his eyes. “Do you want me to shoot her?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sheldon eyed Dirk. He knew he couldn’t take him, but he had to say his peace. “If you do, I’ll have to ask you to meet me out in the parking lot.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk whistled under his breath “Man, you got it bad. Does she know?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sheldon sighed. “I’m leery of expressing my feelings too precipitously. Once I set my mind on something, I rarely ever change it. My heart was set on her the day I met her. My brain took a bit longer to come around to the same conclusion. Now that they’re functioning in sync, I’m just doing the best I can until I can convince her that we are a solid match.” he paused. “Obviously the reference to my heart is purely </span>
  <span>metaphorical</span>
  <span> since the heart has no bearing on my emotional state at all.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Sheldon? I swear to God, if you’re going to throw this game just because we went out on a couple of dates, I’ll hop over this wall right now and come shoot your ass!” They heard Penny yell.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk glanced at Sheldon. “Told </span>
  <span>ya</span>
  <span>.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>They all sat around the large table at the Cheesecake Factory. Everyone was laughing and telling stories. Dirk and Alice told everyone about Melvador and some of their exploits, and the rest of the gang regaled the newcomers with stories of their rag-tag group of misfits. </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“So, Leonard and Amy huh?” Howard questioned Penny in a lull in the conversation.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s not like that, Amy called me this morning about it. They both said they need some time, and this was the perfect get away. They are going to some Civil War thingy. They’ll meet us in Texas.” She shrugged. Amy was polite, if a bit distant, on the phone. She didn’t want Penny to be lonely without her, but she also didn’t want to do the whole girl talk thing either. Penny didn’t push, she knew Amy would come around.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, Leonard didn’t make it sound like it was anything more exciting than two friends going on vacation.” Howard deflated.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“If you heard from Leonard, why did you ask me about it?” </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Howard shrugged “I don’t know, I thought if there was something going on, you would have all the good gossip.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I have some gossip!” Raj exclaimed after he took a healthy sip of his Strawberry Blossom margarita “I saw Howard and Bernie making out behind the base during paint ball!” he smiled and wobbled just a little.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s hardly gossip, they do that every week.” Sheldon deadpanned.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I have a story!” Penny interrupted “I was telling Alice this story about me and Leonard...” </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Leonard and I, Penny. Leonard and I.” He said agonizingly.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny winked at Alice “Actually, Sheldon, the correction of ‘me and Leonard’ to ‘Leonard and I’ is unnecessarily pedantic on your part. ‘Me and Leonard’ is just as grammatically correct as ‘Leonard and I’, as both are widely accepted by literary standards.” She smiled up at him and blinked her eyes at him innocently.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone waited for Sheldon’s reaction. Raj, Bernie, and Howard all had their mouths gaping open, Alice and Dirk were trying to hold in their laughter, and Stuart was just glancing around nervously. Penny bit her lip as Sheldon’s eye began to twitch. She wasn’t sure if he was going to faint or explode. When she saw his mouth begin to twitch as well, she leaned over and quickly kissed him on the cheek, and gave him a hopeful smile. When she pulled back she saw his tics were gone, replaced by a goofy half smile on his face. </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Dude!” Raj said a little too loud. It broke the spell, and everyone started laughing.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>8. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>*Thank you all for your lovely comments! I am amazed and humbled by the amount of kind words, bookmarks, and kudos this little story of mine has garnered. I am so thankful every day that there are people out there interested in reading what I write down. You are all amazing! Thank you for reading! *^.^*</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>*Chapter 7*</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk knocked on the apartment at 4A. He had just left Alice with Penny to get ready for their double date. The girls seemed very excited, and were quick to shoo him from the premises so they could get “All dolled up”. Sheldon opened the door looking very flustered. </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, thank goodness. You’re here. Come in.” Sheldon stepped back and waved his new friend into his apartment.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Everything okay, Sheldon?” Dirk inquired.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Certainly not. We arranged for this ‘three star’ date, and I don’t have any ‘three star’ clothing!”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh...I don’t know what that means.” </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sheldon explained about how he asked Penny out on a date for the first time, and how she explained the different dress codes for the different types of dates, based off the </span>
  <span>five-star</span>
  <span> rating concept. He mentioned how their date tonight would fall under the ‘three </span>
  <span>star</span>
  <span>’ rating, but all his clothes were for two and under, or four and above.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I wouldn’t worry about that, if you have both, then you can mix and match to create a ‘three </span>
  <span>star</span>
  <span>’ look.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Can I? But how? I don’t know anything about this kind of stuff, and usually Penny is the one that helps me in these situations.” Sheldon wrung his hands nervously.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“No worries, I can help. Let’s see what you got.” Dirk followed Sheldon into his room and took a look in his closet. He wasn’t a complete lost cause. Dirk had a similar collection of shirts, but he tended to lean towards jeans. He pulled out a few pieces and laid them out on the bed. Dirk then dug into Sheldon’s dresser drawers. He was careful not to mess anything up, he just took out the pieces that he needed. He made a few adjustments to two of the outfits, then gestured to Sheldon. “Here you go, four ‘three star’ outfits to choose from.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sheldon was flabbergasted. “How did you do that so quickly?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I live with someone who makes clothing for a living.” He laughed “It’s really easy once you get the hang of it. Just take a ‘four </span>
  <span>star</span>
  <span>’ shirt, and pair it with a ‘two </span>
  <span>star</span>
  <span>’ pair of pants, add a belt, tie, or vest, and voila! A ‘three </span>
  <span>star</span>
  <span>’ outfit. You could even pair a “two </span>
  <span>star</span>
  <span>’ shirt with a ‘four </span>
  <span>star</span>
  <span>’ pair of pants. The objective is to mix pieces from each category so they complement one another.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sheldon considered this as he looked at his options. He quickly set up the equations in his head, he calculated the men Penny had over at her apartment over the years, and eliminated any who didn’t dress similarly to the outfits on his bed. He made a few mental adjustments for his own tastes “What if I switched that shirt with this one, and added that, and that?” He pointed to the pieces as he spoke. </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk was impressed. “I’d say I’ll wait in the living room while you change. Looks like you have your ‘three star’ outfit.” He patted him on the back and headed down the hallway.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny was so excited for tonight. Yesterday morning, Alice and Dirk had invited Sheldon and Penny to come over to their house to watch some videos they shot at different </span>
  <span>Melvador</span>
  <span> events. They ended up spending the whole day together. It was funny, but somehow it felt like they had always been friends. Sheldon and Dirk had a lot in common, and got along great, and while Alice and Penny were fairly different, they somehow complimented one another. </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The four of them sat in the living room and watched the short movies. It was interesting to see how </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>Melvador</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span> operated. There was one video Penny liked more than any of the others, it was almost like a home movie. Everyone was running around and playing, then it would switch to a shot of breaktime. People were milling about, eating, exchanging stories and high fives. You could feel the happy energy of the group. Sheldon had lots of questions for Dirk regarding battle and different weaponry. After the video was over, the two of them headed out to Dirk’s ‘workshop’ which was an old shed converted to fit his needs. Alice stood and led Penny into the kitchen where she poured them each a glass of wine. </span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“They’ll be out there for a while, might as well get comfy!” Alice laughed.</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They went back into the living room and sat on their couch. “If you don’t mind me asking, how were you able to afford this place? It’s gorgeous!” Penny had been amazed when she pulled into their driveway. They lived in a cute little colonial home with a yard full of grass, purple and yellow flowers, a wisteria tree, and it was all enclosed by a white picket fence. It was so adorable, but she knew how expensive houses like this were in Pasadena.</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“It’s easy, the house is already paid for.” she was quick to clarify when she saw the look on Penny’s face “It was Dirk’s parent’s house. About five years ago, they decided they wanted to travel, so they ‘sold’ us the house and got an RV, and they travel the country in it. The northern states in summer, and the southern states when it gets cold. They love it.” She took a sip of her wine “Dirk and I had been saving for a house, so they gave us the house using a quitclaim deed, and we bought them the RV of their dreams.” she paused “the kitchen is a bit smaller than I would like, but overall, I’d say it was a fantastic deal. Since we just have the utilities and property taxes to pay for, we’ve been able to put a large chunk into updating and renovating the house. It’s pretty old, so it needed it.”</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Penny looked around her. All the rooms she had been in were light and had plenty of windows. The color scheme was very relaxing, lots of pale blues and yellows. The furniture was all basic, but comfortable, and there were bookshelves and side tables filled with all sorts of nerdy knick-knacks. It gave it a very homey look. “You’ve done a fantastic job. Don’t get me wrong, I love my apartment, but I miss having a yard. I grew up on a farm with lots of land, so it’s been weird.” She turned and pulled her knee up on the couch so she was facing Alice a bit more, and relaxed into the couch “At first, it was so nice, because I didn’t have to worry about yard work, mucking out stalls, feeding animals, or riding fences, but after a while, I started to miss it. I don’t want to live on a farm again or anything, but I like being outside. Having a small yard where I could maybe plant a small garden would be nice.”</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“If you ever want to putz around in a yard, mine is always available. Right now, I pay one of the neighbor kids to mow the lawn. I’m usually holed up in my sewing room making costumes or clothing. If it wasn’t for my stomach, I would forget to come out.” Alice laughed.</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“That sounds like Sheldon. There have been times where I’ve had to man-handle him into quitting his white board before his food got cold.” she pondered that for a moment “Really, all the guys can get that way at times. I can’t imagine being so wrapped up in something, that I tuned out the rest of the world.”</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Dirk doesn’t get it either. He loves what he does, but he doesn’t get lost in it.”</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Speaking of which, what do you think those two are up to? They’ve been out there a long time.” Penny replied.</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“With those two? It could be anything.”</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny chuckled internally when she thought about how they’d gone out to investigate, only to find Dirk giving Sheldon a lesson in the proper use of a sword. Alice pulled out two lawn chairs, and they gave the boys </span>
  <em>
    <span>mostly</span>
  </em>
  <span> helpful tips. Occasionally they would throw out a joke or innuendo, and would laugh when Dirk had to explain them to Sheldon. At the end of the day, Sheldon mentioned that he was talking to Dirk earlier about the date he had planned, and the two of them had solidified details, and had decided to make it a double date. Now Penny and Alice were in her room, picking out outfits and doing their hair and make-up. </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Girl, you got some serious style! Look at these shoes!” Alice was eagerly digging through Penny’s closet.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I have a small issue with retail therapy.” </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Me too! We should form a club!” Alice laughed.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny looked through the pile of clothes and accessories Alice had brought over. “You’ve got some serious style as well! Look at this dress! It’s gorgeous!” She held up a delicate pale pink dress with a sweetheart neckline and an illusion lace overlay going from the center of the sweetheart cut, up and outward in a ‘V’ shape to the outer edges of the shoulders, into lace butterfly sleeves. The dress had a </span>
  <span>two-inch</span>
  <span> waistband under the breasts, where it flowed down into a knee length handkerchief skirt with tiered lace overlay. The lace had a delicate flower pattern. It was beautiful.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Alice stood up and walked over to Penny, she wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “It’s a good thing you like it, since I made it for you.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny’s jaw dropped “You made this for me? When?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Alice shrugged “This morning.” she dropped her arm and fingered the skirt of the dress thoughtfully “It came to me in a vision last night after you left. I’ve actually had that material for a few years now. I bought it on sale thinking it would come in handy, but I just never had anything I wanted to use it for. Until now.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Penny reached over and hugged Alice “Thank you so much!” she leaned back and looked at her sternly “But I’m paying you for this. It’s only fair. This is how you make your </span>
  <span>living,</span>
  <span> you deserve to get paid for your time.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Alice waved away at her offer “Nonsense. I got that material on a steal. This is a </span>
  <span>gift,</span>
  <span> you can’t pay me for a gift.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny placed the dress back on the bed carefully, held up a finger so Alice knew she’d be right back, then ran off into the other room. She came back with a small box and handed it to Alice. “Fine, but then you’re accepting a gift from me in return.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Alice took the box and opened the lid. Inside was a set of five beautiful flower pins, one black, one midnight blue, one burgundy, one burnt orange, and one in a deep green. </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I call them Penny Blossoms. These are a set of new ones that I’ve been working on. They are a nicer version of my usual Penny Blossoms. I added a soft boa type backing, a feather, and a higher quality silk flower and gemstones. You wear them in your hair, but you could also clip them to an outfit or purse.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Alice looked up at her friend in astonishment “You made these?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny blushed “Yes, the one’s I normally sell are just the plain flowers with a gemstone, but I’ve been looking to expand my line. I haven’t really sold a whole lot of them, it’s mostly to friends and co-workers, but I’ve also made some sales on my online store.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Would you consider making custom orders? I could sell these in our booth, but I’d want a variety of flowers, roses, gardenias, chrysanthemums, and others. Maybe you could add specific charms in place of some of the gemstones? And maybe you could make some of them into hat pins?” she asked excitedly.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny’s eyes widened “Ummm...I could do that, but do you think people would buy them?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <span>Absolutely</span>
  <span>! I can already picture it! If I draw up what I’m thinking of, could you make them?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny shook her head quickly in amazement “Sure! I can do that!”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sheldon paced the hall nervously. Penny said they would meet in the hall precisely at 5:15pm, which gave them over an hour to get to the Castle. He wanted to be at the front of the line to get in, so they could get the best seats. He splurged on the Queen’s Royalty Upgrade, so they would be guaranteed seating in the first two rows, but he wanted to make sure they could sit in their chosen knight’s section. It was 5:13pm, he had two minutes. Two minutes to agonize over every detail. He had a plan, and while Dirk had assured him Penny would love it, he still felt on edge. </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny’s door opened, Sheldon checked the time, 5:15pm, right on the dot. He quickly took a breath and held it as Alice stepped out of the apartment, closely followed by Penny. His breath whooshed out of him, and he felt lightheaded. Penny was resplendent in a dress, so pale in its color, that it made her green eyes look darker and deeper than he’d ever seen them. It swished gently around her legs as she turned to lock the door. Her delicately strapped high heels dragged his eyes downward to her ankles wrapped in pale pink ribbons that matched her dress. As she turned </span>
  <span>back</span>
  <span> he forced his eyes to travel back up her form and to her face. She had minimal make up on, if any at all, and her hair was twisted up into a riot of soft curls pinned atop her head. She looked elegant, and there was a part of him that wished he was better at all this. Wished he was better for her. It was never something he’d cared about or given much thought to, but in this moment, he wished he knew more about this kind of stuff. He stepped over to her, held out his arm, and cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Penny, you look stunning.” </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny had a hard time keeping her hands steady when she’d locked her door. When Alice had moved out of the way, she’d been overwhelmed with how handsome Sheldon looked. She’d never seen him like this before. He was wearing a dark pair of jeans that looked like they’d never been worn, a light blue-gray button up shirt with the sleeves folded up a quarter of the way, a leather belt, navy blue tie, and a gold chain pinned to his vest, looping down into a small pocket. The darker colors suited him. She was going to have a hard time keeping her hands off him tonight. Sheldon always looked handsome, even in his geeky layered shirts, but in this? He was hot with a capital ‘H’. </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>She placed her hand on his arm and smiled up at him “Thank you. No one will even notice me with you standing there. You look very dapper and handsome.” she squeezed his arm lightly, then frowned “I hope you don’t feel like you have to dress up for me. I mean, I know I said you needed to dress up for certain types of dates, but I don’t want you to feel like you have to dress a specific way to please me.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Nonsense, Penny. Dirk assisted me with the concept of mixing and matching my clothes to make a ‘three star’ outfit for tonight, but I picked this outfit because I liked it. I would never keep any piece of clothing that I didn’t like, I just happen to have a regular style I prefer for daily wear.” He began leading them down the stairs “I’d like to point out however, that if the way I dress does please you, then that’s just an added bonus.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Alice and Dirk smiled as they followed their friends down the stairs. Dirk leaned over to whisper to Alice. “You look stunning too.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Alice giggled “Thank you, you look very handsome as well.” She flicked her eyes to Sheldon and Penny who were also chatting close together “You did a good job.” she nodded her head in Sheldon’s </span>
  <span>direction.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t take full credit for that. I laid a few options out for him, and he mixed those up to get that.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>They reached the bottom floor and walked outside. David was there waiting, holding open the limo door. “Good evening, Sir.” </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Good evening David, how are you?” Sheldon inquired.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m doing very well, thank you.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny smiled “Hi David!” she waved to their friends “These are our friends Alice and Dirk. Alice, Dirk, this is David.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>They exchanged greetings and everyone piled into the limo. The four friends laughed and discussed what they were each looking forward to about their evening. Penny was most excited to see the jousting, Alice wanted to see the costumes, Dirk wanted an up-close look at the weaponry, and Sheldon wanted to see the falcons. They spent the drive chatting about nothing and everything all at once. Dirk and Sheldon were comparing different science theories and their corresponding articles, while Alice and Penny spoke of the current fashions and their favorite tv shows. When they finally arrived, Dirk and Sheldon stepped out first, so they could help both Alice and Penny in turn. Once Penny was on the sidewalk, she turned to stop David before he walked to the other side of the limo. She pulled a pair of small rectangular boxes out of her purse and held them out to him. “Here, these are for your girls. They’re hair clips. I wasn’t sure which colors they like, so I gave them each a small assortment.” She watched as David opened the boxes, she had given each girl six Penny Blossoms, four regular ones, and two of her fancy ones. </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you, I’m sure my girls will love these. It was very kind of you to think of them.” He smiled brightly.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sheldon overheard the conversation, and couldn’t help but feel proud. He had the most genuinely nice woman he’s ever met on his arm tonight. He stepped over and offered her his arm, he smiled down at her as she looked up at him with a gentle smile and placed her arm on his. It felt so natural to him now, he couldn’t imagine shying away from her touch. He was beginning to crave it, and while the feeling was foreign, it wasn’t completely unwelcomed. He took a breath to clear his head and turned to David. “We should be back in approximately three hours time.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny frowned “You don’t wait out here the whole time do you?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>David smiled “No, Miss, Dr. Cooper told me I could go home to the girls. I’ll be back before you get out.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, good.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>David nodded to them and went around to the driver’s side of the vehicle. They turned and walked up the sidewalk to the entrance. Sheldon looked around and the people gawking and leaned down close to whisper in Penny’s ear “Why is everyone staring at us?” </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny laughed “Sweetie, we just pulled up in a limo. Most people don’t take a limo to go to Medieval Times.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sheldon and Penny stepped up after Dirk and Alice had finished being knighted. They were fighting when they stepped forward to stand before the King. “Why can’t I be knighted too?” Penny asked irritatingly.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Because you are a Queen, and a Queen can’t be knighted.” Sheldon’s voice raised as he replied logically.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Sheldon, that’s only in Age of Conan.” She furiously whispered back as her eyes darted around to those watching.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“A Queen you say? Pray, step forward.” The King held his hand out for Penny, as she nervously took his hand and allowed him to assist her up onto the </span>
  <span>dais</span>
  <span>. “I am King Leopold the Great, and what may I call you, fair lady?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny looked around nervously, and back at the man standing in front of her. He was taller than her, but Shorter than Sheldon, had black hair with a matching beard and was wearing a black set of robes with gold accents. Penny figured the only option was to follow the script set before her. She took a deep breath, mentally stepped into the role and curtsied. “</span>
  <span>Tis’</span>
  <span> a pleasure to meet you, Your Grace. I am known as Queen Penelope.” She replied loudly enough for others to hear.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The King smiled “Queen Penelope, the pleasure is all mine.” He gestured to the man standing in front of him “Is this the man you wish to see knighted?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, Your Grace.” Penny acknowledged with a regal nod of her head.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“And what name do you go by my good sir?” The King bellowed loudly enough for anyone nearby and watching to hear.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sheldon bowed “My name is </span>
  <span>Sheldor</span>
  <span> the Conqueror, your Grace.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The king gestured to his assistants to cover Sheldon with the cape they used for the ceremony. “Pray! Kneel good sir!” </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sheldon kneeled as commanded and bowed his head. He felt the sword tap one shoulder, then the other as the King intoned “I dub thee, Sir </span>
  <span>Sheldor</span>
  <span> the Conqueror, protector of Queen Penelope, and knight of the Order of the Lion. Rise Sir Knight, so everyone may see the honor bestowed upon thee.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone clapped as Sheldon stood and bowed first to the King, and then to his Queen. The king leaned over to Penny and whispered “My dear, I think this one’s a keeper.” he straightened “May the Royal Scribe take note and send forth messengers across the land to deliver the good news!” He held his hand to Penny and assisted her off the dais. “Your Grace, it was wonderful to meet you, and I hope you will consider visiting my kingdom again soon.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank </span>
  <span>you, Your Grace</span>
  <span>.” She curtsied again.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sheldon and Penny walked over to where Alice and Dirk were standing on the sidelines. Alice laughed, her eyes open wide in amazement “Guys, that was awesome. Yuletide is going to rock this year with you two. Sheldon, I’m sorry, but I have to side with Penny, she HAS to be Queen Penelope. We can figure out the details, but there is no way we aren’t adding that this year.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny’s smile reached her eyes “Really? Do you think we can create enough of a back story to make it work?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Absolutely! We’ll talk with the rest of the board and sort it all out. With a few adjustments, your costume would be perfect for a Queen on the battlefield.” Alice could already picture it in her head. Her hands itched to get started. When her muse struck, she struck hard.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I suppose we could work on the details later. Right now, I want to head over to the gift shop, and then to see the Falcons.” Sheldon replied absentmindedly, he was already staring at the entrance to the shop. He pulled his pocket watch out of his vest and noted the time. We have exactly forty-two minutes until we need to be in our seats, so we should have about fifteen minutes to shop, fifteen to look at the falcons, and twelve minutes to get to our seats. If anyone needs to use the restroom, I highly suggest doing it during our shopping time, unless you are less interested in the Falcons.” </span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I agree, let’s go check out the gift shop, I saw a sword in the window that I want to take a closer look at.” Dirk interjected.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s do it!” Penny said enthusiastically. </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sheldon and Penny said goodnight to Alice and Dirk in the lobby downstairs, after inviting them to Halo night on Wednesday. The girls were planning on hanging out at Penny’s while Sheldon, Dirk, Raj, and Howard, played Halo. Sheldon held his arm out for Penny, and they started up the stairs together. “I still can’t believe they offered me a job.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sheldon shrugged his shoulder “I can. After all, you played the part of Queen Penelope perfectly.” They were all looking around the gift shop when one of the managers had approached them, and asked to speak with Queen Penelope. They told her that they were looking to replace the Kings at all their locations with Queens, and they were wondering if she would consider playing the role of Queen Maria Isabella at their castle. Penny gladly took the position, and set up an appointment to go in the next day to fill out paperwork, and to get sized for a costume. She would start immediately, but the switch wouldn’t happen for six more months, which would give her plenty of time to learn the part, and rehearse the new show.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny smiled “I still can’t believe it.” she squeezed his arm “I’m going to have a regular acting job! My dreams are coming true.” </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sheldon was pleased with her enthusiasm, and told her so. They truly were the dreamers of the group. “Penny, if your new schedule allows, would you consider joining us at the Cheesecake Factory on Tuesdays since you will no longer be working there?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course, Sweetie! I would love to.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Good, then I will feel more comfortable ordering, because you can ensure our order is correct.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I’ll do my best, but once I’m no longer working there, I really won’t have any control over it.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, but you can make sure our new waitress understands my needs before you quit, correct?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, yes, but I can’t control whether or not that person always works on Tuesday, or anything like that.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“True.” he sighed “I suppose I’ll adapt.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, Sweetie, I know this kind of messes with your routine.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“This is more important. I have adapted before. If you remember, before the Cheesecake Factory, we went to Big Boy every Tuesday. I didn’t want to be there, but Leonard insisted because he was hoping to start a relationship with you. I am confident that I can adjust to this change as well.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>They continued up the stairs until they reached their floor. Sheldon walked her to her door, and stood patiently while she unlocked the apartment. “Would you like to come in? We could watch a movie or something.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you, Penny, but it is getting late, and I promised Missy I would call her before bed.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I understand, Sweetie. I’ll see you tomorrow?” Penny asked hopefully.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course. It’s Cheesecake Factory night.” He smirked.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny laughed “Yes, it is.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Please text me tomorrow after your appointment, and let me know how it all goes.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I will.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sheldon grasped his hands behind his back in nervousness “Penny, can I ask you something?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny leaned against the door frame “Of course, Sweetie, you can ask me anything.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I would like to initiate physical activity. Would you be averse to what is known as a goodnight kiss?” he asked timidly.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny gave him a </span>
  <span>gentle</span>
  <span> smile “I would like that very much.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sheldon stepped into her space a bit more and gently placed his hands on her waist. He slowly pulled her closer to him and cleared his throat nervously. “I feel I should warn </span>
  <span>you,</span>
  <span> I’ve never done this before.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Penny placed her hands on his arms on either side of her “That’s okay, Sweetie. I want you to feel comfortable, you set the pace. I promise not to pressure you to do anything you don’t want to do.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I know that. And just so you know, I want to do this. I’ve thought of nothing but this for the last couple of days.” he replied in a low and quiet voice. </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.” Penny replied breathlessly. </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sheldon slowly leaned his head down, giving her plenty of time to change her mind if she chose to. He watched as her eye lids fluttered shut, and he glanced down at her mouth before he allowed his to close as well. He felt his lips touch hers and he felt frozen in place. He quickly cataloged the sensations rushing through his system. There was the soft texture of her lips, the sound of her quick intake of breath, the feel of her dress as he slowly moved his hands around her back to pull her against him, and the sensation of her hands gliding up his arms to come up around his shoulders. His heart was racing. His hand moved up to cup the back of her head of its own accord as he pressed his lips more firmly against hers. He had a million thoughts running through his head, but he couldn’t capture any of them enough to know what they were. It was like his mind was full and empty, all at the same time. He reluctantly pulled away from her. He licked his lips, tasting her berry flavored lip balm. He watched as she slowly opened her eyes, the green looking like a tossed stormy sea. She hummed quietly in contentment. </span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Good night, Penny.” he said quietly.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Good night, Sheldon.” she replied. She took a deep breath as he pulled away from her. She stepped into her apartment and watched as he walked over to his door, unlocked it, and started to open it. He glanced back at her and she gave him a soft smile. She closed her door slowly, locked it, turned around, and leaned back against the panel. She smiled.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Crap on a cracker. I need a cold shower.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>9. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>*I’m sorry for the long wait, I live in Michigan, so my children are currently having to learn virtually. I have three and all three are special needs, which makes this oh-so-much-fun. Unfortunately, that means I don’t get as much computer time as I’d like. <br/>Sooooo…..I know that Medieval Times didn’t replace Kings with Queens until 2018, but I felt no one would mind too much if I changed up the time frame a bit to suit my own purposes. I couldn’t find any information on the King’s name, or exactly how they performed the knighting ceremony, so I sort of made it up. I also had no intention of turning it into a job for Penny, but the characters have their own ideas about how this should all go down. Lol! Thank you again for reading! Please continue to leave me comments, they always make my day!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>*Chapter 8*</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny was just finishing with her fitting at the ‘castle’, as everyone called it. Her dress was amazing, and the people were all so nice. Even Steve, the guy who played the King! Penny was sure he would resent her for taking his job, but he welcomed her warmly, and told her that he was taking a position with the company in the managerial department. For the first month of shows, King Leopold would be introducing her as his daughter, the princess. At the end of the month, he would be killed by a traitor, and as the newly coronated queen, it would be Queen Maria’s first priority to have her knights compete to see who was the strongest and bravest, and could help her find the traitor that took her father away from her. She was really excited for it all. She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Sheldon.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>This job is amazing! I can’t wait to tell you all about it later. My dress is beautiful, and the crown! I get to wear a crown! :D</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon was at lunch with Raj and Howard when he heard his phone buzz. He glanced up, Howard and Raj were engrossed in a discussion about the best strategy to pick up women at some club, so he was fairly positive that they wouldn’t notice his distraction. He pulled out his phone and opened the message from Penny. He smiled, he could practically hear her excitement through the text.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Well, of course. What kind of Queen would you be without a crown? I am incredibly pleased you are happy with your new career.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny walked into the middle of the arena, she was done for the day and just wanted to bask for a few minutes. She quickly took a selfie and sent it to Sheldon.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>This place looks so much larger from the floor!</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>Sheldon heard the buzz of Penny’s reply, without looking at his phone, he turned his attention to his companions. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to head back to the office, I have some very important work to finish.” He quickly grabbed his plate and walked off before they could reply. When he reached his office, he closed the door behind him. He typically left it open, so when the door was closed, most people knew not to disturb him. Sheldon sat at his desk and pulled up the message from Penny. It was a picture of her smiling with the stands behind her. Her joy made her whole face glow.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Off course it looks larger. That is the visual perception distortion caused by your location in the arena, the size of the space, and the angle of the riser seats. </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>Penny shook her head when she read his text. Her Wackadoodle was at it again. Before she could reply, another text came through.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>You look happy. </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She smiled<em>. I am</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Good. </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was Halo night, and Sheldon was setting up the Xbox while Penny put out the assortment of snacks and goodies. “Sweetie, do you want me to put the chip dip out now, or after everyone gets here?” Penny asked absentmindedly as she poured the chips into a bright blue bowl.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon checked his watch. “Assuming that everyone will be on time, you can put the chip dip out now. They should be arriving in seven and a half minutes.” He placed the disc in the console, turned on the tv and waited for the xbox to boot up. Once his profile popped up on the screen, he pressed the start button so the game could load.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny went to the fridge and pulled out the chip dip. She pulled out a small dish and scooped a decent amount and carried it over to the coffee table. “Alice is bringing over my outfit for Yuletide, but once we are finished with the fitting, we’ll come over and join you guys.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Penny, I know you haven’t played Halo very much, but we can only play four players at a time.” Sheldon pointed out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny smiled indulgently “Yes, Sweetie, I know.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon was headed over to give her a quick kiss when he heard a call coming in on his laptop. He was getting much more comfortable with physical touch when it came to Penny, and he was anxious to move on from kissing to what was colloquially known as ‘French kissing’. He stamped down his irritation, changed direction, and went over to his desk. Sitting down in his chair, he pressed the accept button, and Leonard’s face appeared. “Hello, Leonard. How are you?” He said mildly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leonard smiled “Hi, Sheldon, I’m doing fine, how are you?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I am in good health. As you know it’s Halo night.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know, that’s why I’m calling. I wanted to check in with you before everything got started. Is anyone there yet?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon glanced briefly over his shoulder. “Just Penny. Raj, Howard, Alice, and Dirk are all expected any minute.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hi, Penny!” Leonard said a bit louder. “I was hoping to get a moment to talk to you alone, but I can always call back later.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny walked over to lean over Sheldon’s shoulder. “Hi, Leonard. I was just about to head out.” She turned to Sheldon “I’ll be back later, okay?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t forget to ask Alice about my cloak. If she could do the work, I will make sure to compensate her for her time.” He tilted his head and leaned his cheek closer to Penny in a silent question.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny obliged him and gave him a swift peck on the cheek before waving goodbye to Leonard. She hurried to the door but looked back as she was leaving. Sheldon was still watching her, so she blew him a kiss and shut the door.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leonard watched Sheldon, watch Penny. He’d never seen that look on Sheldon’s face before, he seemed enthralled, and quite honestly Leonard was happy for him. Sheldon always struggled to make friends, and even though he’d had woman throw themselves at him before, he never seemed to take an interest. Maybe Sheldon just needed to find the right person, and then he needed the time to figure it all out. He just never figured that Penny would be the person to unlock Sheldon’s more human side. Leonard cleared his throat to get Sheldon’s attention. “Amy and I have been doing a lot of thinking and talking. That was why I called. I wanted to tell you that I’m okay with things. I was hurt when I left, but deep down I always knew Penny and I would never work out. We didn’t want the same things. I hope you can forgive me for the things I said, I’d really like for us to be best friends again.” Sheldon was quiet for so long, Leonard began to fear the worse.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It took Sheldon a minute to process what Leonard was saying. He’d been distracted by Penny. That had been happening a lot lately, but he couldn’t place the blame on her. No, it was his newly found libido that was causing all the problems.  So, he in turn, needed to find a way to assimilate. He forced his attention back to Leonard “I accept your apology, but I hope you can understand why you can’t be my best friend. I’ve already given the position to Penny, and she has done nothing to deserve the title being revoked,” he saw Leonard’s face fall. He wasn’t always good with social cues, but he’d shared an apartment with Leonard long enough to be able to read him fairly easily. He knew his friend thought there was no way to salvage things, but Sheldon figured it was past time to extend an olive branch. “but maybe like Amy and Penny, we can make another arrangement. Maybe you can be my male best friend. Would that be acceptable?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leonard sighed in relief “I think I’d like that. Thank you, Sheldon.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You are very welcome. I will draw up a new contract, and you can sign it when you meet us in Texas. You are still coming to Texas for my mother’s birthday party, correct?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Of course. Amy and I will be there on Friday afternoon. I hope you don’t mind, but I called your grandmother, Derek is planning to travel back with us to stay in Pasadena for a few weeks. She said he was more than welcome to join us at the party.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I haven’t seen Derek in years, it will be good to see him.” Sheldon got along with Derek quite well. While Derek did not possess the same IQ as him, he <em>was</em> at the top of his field, and they always had plenty to talk about. “I hope you will ensure he is not sick before travel. It’s that season after all.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t worry, Sheldon, Amy packed the travel kit, and she will make sure we’re all clear before we leave.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thank you. Will you be invoking the guest clause of our roommate agreement?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No, Derek is staying at Amy’s, she offered up her guest room.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Very good.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The door opened revealing Raj and Howard already deep in conversation. “Bernie wants to see ‘Rise of the Guardians’.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m hoping for ‘Wreck it Ralph’.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’ve already seen it twice.” Howard whined.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, but Dude, it was a cool movie.” Raj shrugged.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gentlemen, please.” Sheldon interrupted as he gestured to the screen “I’m on a call with Leonard.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Both rushed over “Hey, Leonard! Long time no see. How’s Gettysburg? Any hot ladies?” Howard asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey, Howard, hey, Raj. Things are pretty good here. Raj, thanks again for those sky charts. Derek is borrowing some equipment, and we are all headed up the mountain this weekend.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Anytime! Hopefully, the weather will stay as predicted, and the skies will be clear for viewing.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So, about those ladies….” Howard waggled his eyebrows “Give us the dets.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leonard sat back and smiled while Sheldon began arguing with Howard over why it was ridiculous to use “dets” as the short form of “details”, when it was already the plural of “details” even if it was used commonly by the masses. He missed this, and while he was having a blast with Amy and Derek, he was looking forward to going home.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Alice finished the last of the pinning and removed the dress carefully so as not to poke Penny with any of the pins currently holding the adjustments in place. “So then Derek stood up and told the group the whole story and now everyone is in a tizzy about Queen Penelope making an appearance at our event. The board was ecstatic about having you play the part. With the changes at Medieval Times making the rounds, they are looking forward to bragging about how we all managed to snag you before anyone else. Bragging rights can be pretty huge in the nerd world.” Alice smirked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You aren’t kidding! I’ve seen that firsthand with the boys. So, they really don’t mind me playing Queen Penelope?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Alice hung the dress up on the specialized hanger and followed Penny out into the living room. “Not at all! We have to sit down with Sheldon and Dirk to hammer out the script, but the gist of it, is that you will play a queen from a far off land that has come to lend aid to our cause after messages went out across the lands for assistance in beating back the horde.” They both sat on the couch and Penny poured them each a glass of wine from the bottle she’d set out on the coffee table earlier. “We have a section of the group that will play as members of your guard and army under the command of Sheldor. Everyone is pretty excited about the new addition. I mean, we had a pretty good story laid out, but this adds a whole new dimension to it.” She laughed a bit evilly “The Heroes of Avalon will be so jealous. Our Yuletide weekend is going to blow their New Year’s Campaign out of the water.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The Heroes of Avalon?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Alice turned to Penny “We have a friendly rival going on with their group.” She smiled and shrugged one shoulder “Sometimes not so friendly, but anyway, we started hosting a Yuletide weekend nine years ago. We were the first group in the area to do a whole weekend campaign. Prior to that, all the groups only did day events. Other groups started doing over night events, but then The Heroes of Avalon decided to do a full weekend for New Year’s to try and compete with us.” Alice placed her wine glass on the coffee table so she could concentrate on explaining. She tended to gesture a lot, and she didn’t want to spill any wine on the couch. “You see, while the boards and heavy players tend to be loyal to only one group, some players like to group jump and just participate in the events they like. It’s a totally accepted practice, but The Heroes of Avalon were actively trying to poach our players. Now, both groups do our best to top each other every year. We don’t poach, but we do want the street cred if you know what I mean. We want people talking about <em>our</em> events. Melvador does about four to five events a year, and we would like to add to that, but we need more people and fresh ideas.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So, let me see if I got this…. You and another group kinda fight over who is the best, and having me play at Yuletide is going to swing things in your favor?” Penny was skeptical, after all, she’d never done anything like this before, she wasn’t sure how she was going to make much of a difference.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Basically yes. I mean, not only is the storyline going to improve our event, but now we can say we have the Queen from Medieval Nights playing with our group. It gives us status. Especially once Queen Maria Isabella is announced officially. Word is already out, people have been talking about the changes, but no one knows exactly what is going on, and by time Yuletide hits, everyone will know that we scooped you up before it all happened.” Alice beamed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny laughed “Bow down before me, Queen of the nerds!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Both Alice and Penny laughed until their sides hurt. Penny was about to pour them each another glass of wine when her phone beeped. “Oh good! Bernadette is on her way, she’ll be here in five.” She put her phone down. “I almost forgot, Sheldon wanted to know if you could add some embroidery to his cape? He wants to have this done on the back,” she handed Alice a piece of paper “he says it the Coat of Arms for my kingdom.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Alice looked down at the paper, it was a shield divided into four, the upper left and lower right squares were gold in color, while the upper right and lower left were red. There was a picture of a castle tower in the center, and the shield had a lion on each side holding swords that crossed over the top of the shield. There was a crown placed above the swords where they were crossed. There were red ribbons wrapping around the Lions and shield. It was beautifully drawn. “Did Sheldon do this himself?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, he has a thing with flags, so he already knows all about this kind of stuff. He even has an apartment flag.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Alice laughed “Just wait until Dirk finds out, he will pester Sheldon until he makes us a flag for our house.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny laughed as well “I don’t think you have anything to worry about, he’ll totally do it. He has some weird hobbies.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’ll tell Sheldon that I’ll do the work for him, if he creates Dirk a house flag.” She winked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Howie, watch out!” Bernadette yelled. Howard’s character didn’t move in time, and his arm was blown off.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Bernie, you can’t yell at me like that! It distracts me!” Howard whined.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s not my fault, you need to pay better attention.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, if you want to go that route, it actually is your fault, you can’t sit that close to me and expect me to be able to pay attention to my game.” He weaseled while waggling his eyebrows suggestively.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, we could always go home, and I could distract you some more.” Bernie nudged his shoulder.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Howard paused the game and dropped his controller “Sorry guys, I have to go take care of some business with my gal. See you all later!” He grabbed Bernadette’s hand and dragged her out of the apartment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But, you can’t just leave!” Sheldon called out. It was useless. Howard was gone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Dude, he was my ride.” Raj pouted.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s okay, we can drop you off later.” Dirk replied.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thanks, man! That is so nice of you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Not a problem. So, does that mean we won?” Dirk looked to Sheldon.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Since my partner forfeited by leaving, then yes, I suppose that means you won.” Sheldon said glumly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Whoo-hoo!” Raj yelled and held up his hand for a high five from Dirk, who responded enthusiastically.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sorry, Sheldon, bad luck. We could always start a new game?” Dirk offered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No, I think we’ve played enough Halo for one night.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, it’s still early, do we want to do something else?” Alice asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah! What’s something we can all do?” Penny chimed in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hmmm…well, we could watch a movie, or we could play a board game.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sheldon, if we play a board game, we need to make sure it’s one that everyone can enjoy, not just something you’re good at and are guaranteed to win.” Penny leveled him with a look. She knew how he liked to stack the deck in his favor, and she wasn’t having any of it. “That means no trivia games.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Aww man.” Sheldon crossed his arms and pouted.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We could go over the plans for Yuletide, I haven’t had a chance to explain things to Sheldon.” Dirk looked around the group.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What’s Yuletide?” Asked Raj.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yuletide is a larping weekend our group Melvador is putting on in a few weeks. Sheldon and Penny are joining us.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What do you do on a larping weekend?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dirk nodded at Alice to take over the explanation. She was better at that kind of thing. “Well, every group runs a bit differently. Our group usually has daytime activities throughout the year, but for Yuletide, we open it for a whole weekend. Melvador owns fifty acres near Acton, we use that for all our events. For Yultide, we camp there and spend the whole weekend playing a long campaign, very similar to a D&amp;D type set up. Everyone has characters and we all play a part. We stop for meals and downtime, but it’s a whole weekend of fun.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh my God that sounds like so much fun!” Raj said in that tense over-excited kind of way.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re more than welcome to join, we can help get you all fitted out and everything.” Alice offered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon held up a hand to interrupt “Okay, but if Raj is joining us, then we really need to buckle down and get the details worked out. We’ll need to create a whole character for him and everything, not to mention, we still need to get everything sorted out for Penny and I.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Let’s get started. Do you have enough paper for everyone? We’re gonna need to write some things down.” Dirk replied.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Not only do I have enough, but we can also plan things out on a white board as well.” Sheldon got up and set up a board next to the couch, he quickly took an eraser, and cleared the board.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Uhhh, Sheldon, wasn’t that Leonard’s work?” Raj asked carefully.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes, but since his math was incorrect, he’d need to start over anyway.” He popped the cap off his marker “Now, where do we begin?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was late, and Penny had just finished drying the last dish. She felt it was only fair to stick around and help clean up after everyone had left. Sheldon was wiping down the coffee table while she dried her hands. She glanced around to see if there was anything else that needed to be cleaned up, but everything looked neat and tidy. “That looks like everything. It was nice of Alice and Dirk to invite Raj to their house this weekend to get fitted for an outfit.” She walked over to the couch and plopped down in her spot. “By the way, is Raj able to drive you tomorrow, or do you need a ride to work?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon put away the cleaning supplies and quickly washed his hands. “If you are available, it would be a great help. Raj was planning on going into work early, so he could leave early to get ready for dinner. Although why he needs the extra time is beyond me.” Sheldon shook his head in confusion.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny internally chuckled. While Raj was a heterosexual male, he primped and preened like a woman. It made him a great shopping and makeover buddy though. “It’s not a problem, Sweetie. Why don’t you text him, and let him know I’ll drive you and pick you up tomorrow?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Are you sure it won’t interfere with your shift?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny looked down at her hands twisting in her lap. “Um, no, that won’t be an issue at all.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon knew something was wrong by the way Penny answered him. Maybe she wasn’t getting good tips? Or maybe they fired her for not taking down orders correctly. Although why they would wait this long was beyond him. Either way, he needed to know what was going on in case she needed his help. He walked over to sit in his spot next to her. “Penny, is everything okay with work?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah” She sighed and rested her head back on the couch “As you know, I put in my two weeks’ notice. Well, they decided to cut most of my shifts, so I’m no longer working tomorrow. I work the lunch shift on Friday, Sunday, and Monday. They said they won’t need me after that, so Monday is my last day.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“They can’t do that, can they?” Sheldon huffed in dissatisfaction.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny roughly ran her fingers through her hair. “I don’t really know, but it doesn’t matter. They said since I had already requested the time off for our trip to Texas, there is no point in me working once I come back. I have a few shifts at Medieval Times, but my first check won’t come for another two weeks. I’m caught up on my bills, but everything else may end up a bit tight. I’ll figure it out though.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon turned to face her a bit more. He reached for her hand and waited for her to look up at him. “I have a secret stash in the rear end of my Green Lantern figurine. No one else knows about it.” He held up his other hand to forestall Penny’s argument. “I know how you feel, I just wanted you to know. You can take freely from it and replace it at your own discretion. Outside of a catastrophic emergency, I won’t look in there. I have other hiding spots that I can deplete before touching that one.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sheldon, that is extremely sweet of you, and I appreciate the offer so much, but you know how I get. It drives me crazy owing someone else money.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know.” He nodded “I even understand. But I care too much for you to watch you worry and stress about being able to provide for yourself when I can so easily help alleviate some of the burden. I would much rather consider it a gift, but I have little faith that I could get you to agree to that.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You know, you put on this big show of being a Homo Novus and all, but in all reality you’re a big softy, filled with feelings.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon looked at her sternly “Don’t you dare tell anyone. I have a reputation to uphold you know.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny laughed and crossed her heart “I won’t say a word.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon cleared his throat. “Penny, I don’t want to sound rude, but it<em> is</em> getting late….”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She pulled herself off the couch and looked down at Sheldon. “Of course, Sweetie. I’ll see you tomorrow?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon stood as well “Yes, would you like me to have coffee ready for you?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She walked over to the door “If you wouldn’t mind? Coffee is the only thing that gets me up and moving in the morning.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon met her at the door and gestured her to proceed him “I’ll walk you home, you can never be too safe.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Awww! Thank you, Sweetie.” She smiled. Once she had her door open, she turned to say goodnight.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon was rocking on his feet. “Penny, I’ve been thinking.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny waited, but he didn’t say anything else “Yes?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He tilted his head and twisted one foot into the carpet. “I’ve done some research, and I was wondering how you would feel about another good night kiss?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sweetie, you don’t have to ask me for a good night kiss, I don’t mind.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I just have one favor to ask, if it’s not too much trouble?” Sheldon asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sure, Sweetie, what is it?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon placed his hands carefully on her waist and slowly pulled her to him. “You know how much I dislike surprises or the unexpected. Like in a waltz, I need to lead, to set the pace, I need to be in control. Can you be okay with that?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The low timbre of his voice sent goosebumps skittering down her body, his eyes were such an intense blue, she felt like she could get lost in them. They hadn’t done anything more than kissing, and somehow, he had her all twisted in knots. She couldn’t do anything but nod her assent.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The way she bit her lip while nodding her head drove his lips into hers against his will. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and in response he wrapped one arm around her back, while his other hand dived into her hair. He started placing open mouthed kisses on her lips until he felt hers begin to part. Once he had an opening, his tongue reached in to tag hers, noting that while he had initially worried about germs, those worries paled in comparison to the glorious feelings rushing through his system. This was much more intense than he thought it would be. It felt like falling and tumbling through the cosmos without a guidance system, but it was freeing and beautiful, much like the woman in his arms.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny involuntarily moaned into his mouth. Sheldon, her crazy wackadoodle neighbor, had his tongue in her mouth…<em>willingly</em>. Not only that, but he was kissing her like he’d done it a million times before. He somehow knew exactly what it would take to drive her crazy. He walked her back into her apartment and kicked the door closed behind him. Before she could process what was going on, he’d spun her around and had her pressed up against the door. Her head was spinning, his hands were traveling up and down her back and sides. When she felt his hand brush up against her breast, warmth pooled low in her body. It took everything she had to push him back and rip her mouth away from his. They both stood there for a moment, panting. “Sheldon, wait.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Did you not enjoy it? Did I do something wrong?” Sheldon asked worriedly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No! I mean, yes! I mean…I enjoyed it very much. <em>Too</em> much. You did everything right, which is why we have to stop.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon looked down into her flushed face. He cataloged her rosy cheeks, swollen lips, darkened eyes, and messy hair, no thanks to his roving hands. She looked beautiful and he wanted to devour her. “Well, then there’s no problem.” He swooped down and captured her lips again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He pressed her back up against the door, his tongue doing wickedly delicious things to her. Her head swam as he pressed his body into hers. She tangled her fingers in the hair at the back of his head and tried to press her body even closer to him if that was possible. She could feel his erection pressed up against her core, and it was really hard for her to keep herself from begging him to take her to bed. She struggled to keep her wits about her, but she was determined to not let this go any further.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted to ensure that Penny saw how compatible they really were. There is no one else on the planet that he could ever imagine being comfortable enough to do this with. Penny was it for him, there was no one else. He just needed to get her to see it. He felt like he’d made great strides in the last few days, all things considered, but he needed to tie her to him in more ways than one. He wanted all of her, so he needed to show her that she could have all of him too. He continued to kiss her for a few more minutes, enough to make sure she knew how he felt. Then he pulled away from her mouth and began to slowly place kisses all over her face and neck. He waited until their breathing had returned to normal and lightly pressed his forehead against hers. “I’ll see you in the morning?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny looked into his eyes, the blue darkened with restrained desire. She took a deep breath to steady herself. “Yeah.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon pulled away and made sure she was steady on her feet before letting go. She stepped away from the door and opened it for him. He cradled her cheek in one of his hands for a moment, then let his fingers slowly trace her jawline as he pulled away. “Good night, Penny. Sweet dreams.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Good night.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sheldon smiled at the dreamy look on Penny’s face. He walked over to his apartment and opened his door. Once he was inside, he turned to look across the hall, Penny bit her lip and gave him a little wave before shutting her door. He closed his door and set all the locks. He looked back at the ending to his evening and smiled. “Thank you ‘Wikihow’.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>*I just love the idea of Sheldon consulting the internet on techniques for French kissing. For extra amusement, look up Wikihow French kissing. They have instructions. Picture Sheldon reading all that and looking at the pictures and videos. It's awesome.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>10. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>*Thank you all again for continuing to read my story! I cried when I reached 3k hits. No joke. I was never expecting such a great response to this, you are all my heroes. Thank you for being so awesome! This chapter is filled with shorter scenes to help get us to Texas. I hope you enjoy it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>*Chapter 9*</p><p> </p><p>“Ow! What the hell?” Bernadette turned to see Penny frowning at her.</p><p> </p><p>“Stop making out with the enemy, and I won’t shoot you next time.” Penny kept her gun pointed at her teammate, just because Bernadette and Howard’s guns were both laying on the floor, didn’t mean they couldn’t reach for them. Bernie may be on her side, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t shoot back. Luckily, Alice was just outside the hut keeping watch. She slowly backed out the door and darted to the side. “Run!”</p><p> </p><p>Howard looked at his fiancé with wide eyes. “Penny has the flag!”</p><p> </p><p>Bernadette smiled before grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him close “Yeah, but you have something even better. A prisoner.”</p><p> </p><p>Howard waggled his eyebrows “True.”</p><p> </p><p>-------------------------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>Penny burst into 4A. “Sheldon, I need your help.”</p><p> </p><p>He paused the Dr. Who episode he was watching. “Milk is in the fridge.” He gestured with the remote “You really need to make sure to keep your own stock, what if we decided to quit drinking milk? You must think ahead and plan for these things.”</p><p> </p><p>“No, not with that.” She waved away the thought “I need help finding the perfect birthday gift for your mother.”</p><p> </p><p>“I bought her the digitally remastered ultimate edition of ‘Carl Sagan’s Cosmos’ 5-disc blue ray set. You could always buy her the ‘Cosmos, A Spacetime Odyssey’ set, hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson as a companion.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?” she shook her head “What is that?”</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon sighed. “Carl Sagan was a Pulitzer Prize winning scientist who hosted a television series regarding the synergy and make-up of the universe and our relationship to it. I’m hoping it will be as enthralling and educational for my mother, as it was for me, as I enjoyed watching the series when I was a young child. The recent show hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson is a continuation of Carl Sagan’s work.”</p><p> </p><p>Penny sat down next to him on the couch. “Sweetie, you can’t give that to your mother.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why not? It’s a perfectly useful gift.”</p><p> </p><p>“It sounds like this is a gift that you would enjoy.”</p><p> </p><p>“Of course it is! Why else do you think I picked it out for my mother?”</p><p> </p><p>“Sweetie, you can’t pick out gifts that <em>you</em> like when shopping for <em>other</em> people. You need to think about them and what they like. Just because you like something, doesn’t mean that they will like it. I like ‘Care Bears’, how would you feel if I bought you a ‘Care Bear’ for your birthday?”</p><p> </p><p>“I wouldn’t enjoy that at all. You know I have no use for stuffed bears.”</p><p> </p><p>“Exactly. Do you see my point?”</p><p> </p><p>He sighed heavily. “I suppose so. But this leaves me in a quandary. I no longer have a gift, and anything I order on amazon might not make it before we leave. Although, I suppose I could always have something shipped to my Meemaw’s.”</p><p> </p><p>“We could always go shopping today. I still need to get a gift.”</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon pouted “I hate shopping.”</p><p> </p><p>“I understand that, Sweetie. How about I take you to the train store once we’re finished?”</p><p> </p><p>He perked up “Really? Can I get the Lionel Hogwarts Express Train set and extra tracks so it will fit around the Christmas tree that Leonard will insist on putting up?”</p><p> </p><p>“Sure, Sweetie, whatever makes you happy.” She smiled. Sometimes Sheldon was just like a little kid. It was kind of sweet how such simple things made him happy. The guys were always irritated by it, but she thought it was endearing. Too many times, people got caught up with adulting, and if Sheldon could use trains and comic books to help relieve the stress, who was she to judge. Even if she wasn’t interested in them herself.</p><p> </p><p>“We can leave once I’ve finished my Dr. Who episode and have gotten dressed. If you come back in” he checked his watch “twenty-two minutes, I will be ready to leave.”</p><p> </p><p>“Perfect. I’ll go get ready!” Penny jumped up and ran back over to her apartment, but not before giving him a quick peck on the cheek.</p><p> </p><p>---------------------------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>Saying that Penny was frustrated, was an understatement. Everything she pointed out, Sheldon shot down. “Sheldon, we have been into six stores already, and we’ve come up with nothing. Let’s sit down real quick and talk this out. There <em>has </em>to be a way to figure out something to give to your mother.”</p><p> </p><p>“Very well.”</p><p> </p><p>They found a bench and took a seat. “What kinds of things does your mother like?”</p><p> </p><p>He snorted “God, the bible, and her Franklin Mint Collector’s Plates.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, I’m fairly sure she already has a bible, and we can’t give her God, so what about the plates? Are there any in particular she’s been wanting to add to her collection?”</p><p> </p><p>“I do not believe so. After my father passed away, she replaced all the ones my father used for skeet shooting practice. I believe her collection is now complete.”</p><p> </p><p>Penny took a deep breath, released it, and tried to think. “What about some religious jewelry? I’ve seen her wear the same cross necklace every time we’ve met. We could get her a new one.”</p><p> </p><p>“Mama has a few necklaces, she just prefers that one.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” she thought some more “what about a Pandora bracelet?”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know if my mother is interested in the mythology surrounding Pandora and her box.” He said curiously.</p><p> </p><p>She laughed “No, Pandora is a brand name, Sweetie. They are very nice and expensive bracelets, and you can personalize them with different charms. I bet we can even find a charm to represent you!”</p><p> </p><p>“That sounds interesting, let’s go.”</p><p> </p><p>---------------------------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>“Welcome to Pandora’s Jewelry, is there anything I can help you find?”</p><p> </p><p>Penny looked up from the display case to see a well-dressed middle-aged man standing behind the counter. “Yes, my friend here is looking to get a charm bracelet for his mother’s birthday, do you happen to have any science charms?”</p><p> </p><p>“Science charms?” he replied dubiously.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, I am a theoretical physicist at Cal Tech. I would like a charm to represent my field of study.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m afraid we don’t have anything for physics, but we do have some lovely charms for the sun, moon, and stars. That is probably the closest thing we have to ‘science charms’.” He reached down in the display and pulled out a few trays “Can you tell me what sorts of things your mother likes? I can pull out different charms for you to look at.”</p><p> </p><p>“As I told Penny earlier, God, the bible, and Franklin Mint Collector’s plates. She’s a very simple woman.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, we do have a collection of religious charms, and here we have some family charms, and a few birthday charms.” He continued to pull out trays, while simultaneously ignoring the Franklin Mint Collection comment. He didn’t even know where to begin with that one. “I’ll give you a few minutes to look these over to see if there is any that interest you. My name is Colin, just let me know if you need anything.” He politely stepped away to help another customer.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, do you see anything you like, Sweetie?”</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon looked over the various charms laid out before him. He picked up a sun charm that had the words “You are my sunshine” engraved on it. “My mother used to sing this to Missy when we were little. Do you think she would like this?” He held it out for Penny to see.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes! That is exactly the kinds of things you should look for, things that have special meaning.” She picked out a dangly charm that had letters spelling out “Mom”. “This might be a good one to add as well. Why don’t we make a small pile over here, that way we can narrow down the pile to the one’s we like?”</p><p> </p><p>“That is a very logical system of elimination! Very good Penny, it seems our time spent together is rubbing off on you!” He smiled.</p><p> </p><p>She glared back. She knew he meant it as a sincere compliment, but that didn’t make her feel any better about it. “Watch it. Just because you kissed me, doesn’t mean I won’t go Junior Rodeo on you.”</p><p> </p><p>He gulped. “You know I didn’t mean it that way.”</p><p> </p><p>She sighed “I know, but maybe you should take a few seconds to think about the way you word things before you say them.”</p><p> </p><p>“I will take that under advisement.”</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you, Sweetie.” She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon blushed, he still wasn’t completely used to public displays of affection, but he felt confident that no one was paying them any attention. They both continued to look at the charms, pulling out ones that interested them. Sheldon picked out a mother and son heart, a starry night charm, a happy birthday cake charm, and a dangling cross charm. Penny chose an angel charm, a heart charm, family tree charm, house charm, and a small cat charm.</p><p> </p><p>“What is the cat charm for? My mother doesn’t own any cats.”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s for ‘Soft Kitty’.” She smiled softly. “I know it would make me think of you, and since she was the first to sing it to you, I figured it would make her think of you too.”</p><p> </p><p>He smiled “I suppose you’re right. Thank you, Penny, I think she’ll like this one.”</p><p> </p><p>“Have you found any you like?” Colin asked as he slid up to the counter in front of them again.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, I believe we have. We’ll take all of these” Sheldon indicated the pile off to the side.</p><p> </p><p>“Very good, sir.” Colin placed the trays back below the glass. He grabbed one from the side of the case and placed it on the countertop. “Here’s our collection of charm bracelets, does your mother have a preference on the color?”</p><p> </p><p>Penny turned to Sheldon “Your mother’s necklace is silver, the bracelet should match, don’t you think?”</p><p> </p><p>“I agree, she prefers silver over gold.”</p><p> </p><p>She pointed to a plain bracelet with a heart shaped clasp. “What about this one? It’s simple, but very pretty.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll trust your judgement on this one, Penny. You know more about jewelry than I do.”</p><p> </p><p>“I think this one will do nicely.” She turned to address Colin “How many charms can this one hold?”</p><p> </p><p>“This one will hold 15-20, it all accounts on the charm, as some are wider than others. I suggest going up a size so that way she can continue to add to it without it becoming tight around her wrist.” He replied.</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon looked at Penny “We only have eleven charms, should we pick more?”</p><p> </p><p>“Can we place the charms on the bracelet to see how it looks?” Penny asked Colin.</p><p> </p><p>“Of course.” He quickly undid the clasp. “Did you have any particular order you wish for them to be in?” He inquired.</p><p> </p><p>“Not right now, we just want to see how they fit. If we decide to get more, we can always rearrange the order later.”</p><p> </p><p>“Alright, give me just a moment.” Colin quickly placed the charms on the bracelet, being careful not to place two dangling ones next to each other. “How do you feel about this?” He showed them the finished product.</p><p> </p><p>“Hmmm…” Sheldon held the bracelet and looked at it from different angles. “Penny, could you put this on so we can see how it looks while being worn?”</p><p> </p><p>“Of course, Sweetie, that’s a good idea.” She put it on her wrist, it wasn’t as heavy as she thought it would be. “What do you think?”</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon grabbed her wrist and twisted it this way and that. “I think it needs more charms, I don’t like how empty it looks.” He thought the bracelet looked very pretty on her; he would have to consider getting her one at some point. Normally jewelry held no interest for him, unless it was related to a superhero, or from a treasured book, but the thought of Penny wearing something he gave her felt right.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, Sweetie, was there any others you were interested in?”</p><p> </p><p>“No, I pulled out all the ones I liked.” He pouted.</p><p> </p><p>“If I may, we have filler charms, there is a wide variety of them, and your mother can remove them if she receives more personal ones over the years.” He pulled out a tray filled with simple charms.</p><p> </p><p>“That will work very nicely, thank you, Colin.” Sheldon replied. “Penny, I really don’t know what to pick, if you would be so kind as to choose for me, I would appreciate it.”</p><p> </p><p>Penny let her eyes roam over the choices in front of her. She ended up picking out six flower charms, they all looked different, but somehow matched. She gave her selection to Colin, and he helped them place all the charms on the bracelet in an order that Sheldon agreed that was aesthetically pleasing. When they were finished, they followed Colin over to the cash register. “I’ll pay for the bracelet, and you can purchase the charms.”</p><p> </p><p>“Now, hold on. We both picked this out, I think we should give it to her as one gift together.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sheldon, I can’t afford to cover half the cost of this.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not expecting you to. I just don’t think we should separate the gift. What if she opens the charms before the bracelet? It would ruin the surprise of your gift. And if she opens the bracelet first, it will be empty, and that might upset my mother.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sheldon,”</p><p> </p><p>He held up a hand interrupting her “I’ll pay for this right now, and we can discuss how much you want to put in at a later time.” He had no intention of allowing her to pay for any of it, but they could have that argument later. After all, she was doing him a large favor by helping him with this, without her, he wouldn’t have a gift for his mama. After seeing the whole thing put together, he could admit that Penny had been right. He had a feeling that his mother would love this. After the bracelet was paid for, they stepped out of the store after thanking Colin for all his help.</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon smiled down at her. “To the train store?”</p><p> </p><p>-----------------------------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>Penny threw her laundry in the dryer. “Let me get this straight. You want to pack an emergency kit in my suitcase? For what purpose?”</p><p> </p><p>“Penny, Penny, Penny, for emergencies of course! It will go in your check-in bag. Inside will be two sets of extra clothing, a first aid kit, non-perishable food, bottled water, and an emergency blanket. Unfortunately, due to airline restrictions, we are not allowed to pack flares or dynamite. Luckily, I know where we can purchase some once we land.”</p><p> </p><p>“Dynamite? Why dynamite?” Penny knew Sheldon had some idiosyncrasies, but this was taking it a bit far.</p><p> </p><p>“You never know when a stick of dynamite might come in handy, Penny. I keep a couple in each of my emergency packs.”</p><p> </p><p>Penny’s jaw dropped “You have dynamite in your apartment!?!” she practically yelled.</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon scoffed “Of course I do. They are in small fireproof boxes, there is no need for concern.”</p><p> </p><p>Penny was beginning to think the guys were right. Sheldon really was just one accident away from becoming a super villain.</p><p> </p><p>--------------------------------------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>Penny was tired. It was her last shift at the Cheesecake Factory, and it was a slow day. Busy days were better because they went by faster, and she got better tips. Her co-workers were sweet enough to bring in a cake and throw a small going away party, and that was the only good part of her day. They even insisted on sending her home with the leftovers and she carried a bag full of going away gifts. Now that her work day was over, she just wanted to curl up with a bowl of ice cream and a feel-good movie. She still had a few hours until Sheldon was off work, so that gave her a bit of downtime to unwind so that she could spend a stress-free evening with him. She stepped into her apartment, dropped the bag and cake down on her kitchen island, and opened the freezer.</p><p> </p><p>“Hello, Penny.”</p><p> </p><p>Penny jumped and dropped the container of ice cream on the floor, she pressed her hand against her now rapidly beating heart, trying to keep it from pounding out of her chest. “Sheldon! What the hell! You scared the crap out of me!” She closed the freezer, then picked up the ice cream, making sure it was still edible. Luckily, the lid stayed firm, so she reached over to the drawer and grabbed a spoon.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry, Penny, I didn’t realize that you were unaware of my presence.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why would I be aware of your presence? You’re supposed to be at work!”</p><p> </p><p>“We leave for Texas early tomorrow morning, there are still preparations to make. I took the afternoon off so I could ensure your suitcase was properly packed, and thank goodness I did, because you hadn’t even started packing!”</p><p> </p><p>“Sheldon, I was planning on packing tonight.” She replied exasperatingly.</p><p> </p><p>“Penny, you can’t leave these things until the last minute! What if you found that you needed something and the store you needed to buy it from was out, or closed?”</p><p> </p><p>“Then I’d go without. It’s not that difficult Sheldon.”</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon tsked. He turned around and walked back into her room muttering under his breath about “troublesome women”.</p><p> </p><p>Penny grabbed the chocolate syrup out of her fridge and dumped a ton in the carton. She was going to need a lot of chocolate. She ate a spoonful and then followed Sheldon into her room. She stopped short in her doorway, once again Sheldon and his cleaning obsession had transformed her room. Her closet doors were wide open, and she could see all her clothes were organized by color, then within those parameters, by season. Her bed was made with new bedding, and all her care bears were organized and neatly sitting on her dresser. He had taken out her suitcase and was packing.</p><p> </p><p>“Sheldon, why did you pack my clothes? You don’t even know what I want to wear!”</p><p> </p><p>He scoffed. “Of course I do. I packed all your favorite outfits for the forecasted weather, plus your most comfortable pajamas. I also packed a set of new toiletries- no worries, I made sure they matched the items you already prefer to use- and I packed you a few pairs of shoes. Shoes for everyday wear, your heels for the party, slippers for the evenings, and a pair of sandals since I know you like those.” He gestured to each pair as he spoke.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh? And what dress did you pick for the party?” Penny was curious to dig through the suitcase to see if he really knew what her favorite outfits were.</p><p> </p><p>“I packed your denim-colored blue dress with the short sleeves, and the purple dress you wore on our first date. I figured I should pack more than one in case we end up going out to eat one evening, or my mother manages to rope us into going to church with her on Sunday. Which unfortunately, is highly likely to happen.” He folded another shirt and added it to the suitcase “I also packed your V-neck teal dress with the layered skirt as a backup dress in case something happens to one of the other dresses in transit.”</p><p> </p><p>Penny’s eyes widen of their own accord, those are the exact dresses she would have picked. The blue was respectable for his mama’s party, and the other two would be great if they went out somewhere. She could even wear the teal to church with a matching cardigan. Before she knew what she was doing, she grabbed it out of her closet and threw it on the pile Sheldon was packing. “For church.” She nodded.</p><p> </p><p>“A wise choice, you can never tell if the building will be drafty.”</p><p> </p><p>Penny rolled her eyes. She glanced at the dress shoes he packed. “Sheldon, you can’t pack only a black pair of heels!”</p><p> </p><p>“Why not? I’ve heard Missy say on multiple occasions that ‘black goes with anything’.”</p><p> </p><p>“While that is true, it’s not always true for shoes.” She snatched them out of the suitcase and replaced them with the proper pairs.</p><p> </p><p>“Penny, you just replaced one pair of shoes with three, now I’ll have to rearrange everything!” Sheldon exclaimed.</p><p> </p><p>“And what is with these shoes? I don’t wear these for everyday wear! These are my work shoes!”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, and since they must be comfortable to work in, they are perfect for everyday wear!”</p><p> </p><p>“No, Sweetie, those are ugly. They were given to me as part of the uniform, I didn’t actually choose to wear them.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, I hadn’t considered that.” He took them out and held them out to her “I apologize Penny. Please grab a pair of shoes that you feel comfortable wearing.”</p><p> </p><p>She grabbed them from him and dug in her closet. She found her favorite pair of sneakers and placed them in the vacant spot from her work shoes. She took a moment to peek at what he was packing, and darned it all, if he wasn’t packing all her favorite outfits. He even packed her favorite pajamas. She decided to sit down on the bed to finish her ice cream before it melted.</p><p> </p><p>“You know, I could get used to this, I normally just cram everything in there. This all looks a lot neater.”</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon gasped “But Penny, how would you find anything?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’d just pull it all out until I found what I wanted.” She shrugged.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, that explains the state of your room when I arrived.” He shook his head. “By the way, you really need to take better care of the items under your bed.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sheldon….” She panicked “You didn’t!”</p><p> </p><p>“Everything is organized now, no need to worry.”</p><p> </p><p>Penny freaked out and looked under her bed. Sure enough, he had cleaned everything out, which meant he found her box. The one thing she hoped he’d never find.</p><p> </p><p>“Coincidentally, I myself have a box under my bed. Granted, they each contain different items, but the concept still applies.” He smirked.</p><p> </p><p>Penny’s eye’s widened until they dried out and tears formed. “Are you telling me, that you have a naughty box under your bed?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, that’s certainly not what I call it, but yes.”</p><p> </p><p>Penny ran out of the room, snatched the emergency key to 4A, and tore into his apartment. She ran into his room, threw herself onto the floor, and reached blindly under his bed for his box. She just had to know what dirty little secrets Sheldon kept in there. She found the box and sat on his bed. It was one of those square photo storage boxes. She took a deep breath, then lifted the lid. There was a piece of paper inside with just one word. “SHELDON!”</p><p> </p><p>He heard her scream from across the hall, and he chuckled to himself. “Bazinga.”</p><p> </p><p>---------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>Penny settled in deeper in her seat. She still couldn’t believe that Sheldon had gotten them first class tickets. When she’d confronted him about it, he had responded that he didn’t enjoy flying, so if he was going to be forced to be on a plane, it was going to be in first class. She had to admit, there was something to his logic. The seats were larger, there were only two seats on their side of the plane, they had more leg room, and they even got a blanket and pillow to cuddle with. She rarely ever flew, because of how expensive it was, and when she did, it was always coach.</p><p> </p><p>“Penny, now that we have reached altitude, and everyone is settled in, I would like to open a dialogue regarding our trip.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sure, Moonpie, what’s on your mind?”</p><p> </p><p>“Penny, only my Meemaw is allowed to call me Moonpie.”</p><p> </p><p>“And other Penny.” She pointed out.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, well, we are talking about you right now, not ‘other Penny’, so once again, I’ll point out that only my Meemaw can call me Moonpie.”</p><p> </p><p>Penny rolled her eyes and gestured for him to continue.</p><p> </p><p>“Once we land, we are sure to be bombarded by my family, and we will have little to no time to ourselves.”</p><p> </p><p>Penny waited for him to continue. When he didn’t, she figured he must be waiting for some sort of response. “Okay, well, we can handle that, I mean, that’s why we are here, to see your family, right?”</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon cleared his throat “Yes, this is true, but I had something I wanted to discuss, and preferably before we land in Texas.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, Sweetie, go ahead. You have my undivided attention.”</p><p> </p><p>He took a deep breath “I would like to discuss the terms of our relationship paradigm. I was wondering if you would be opposed to altering our agreement, by adding an addendum. I would still like you to keep the title of my ‘Best Friend’, but I would like to add ‘Girlfriend’ status as well. I have already written up a document, and if you read it over, we can discuss any changes you feel need to be made.” He handed her the proposed addendum. Sheldon had spent days working on it, trying to get it just right. He knew she hated it when he used words and terminologies that were above her intelligence level, so he tried to keep it simple, while still feeding his need for a legal and binding contract.</p><p> </p><p>Penny took the papers and placed them in her lap. On one hand, she was tempted to say yes, on the other hand, this had to be the weirdest way anyone had ever asked her out. And that included the time in 7<sup>th</sup> grade when Steven Donaldson wrote “Penny, will you go out with me?” in the boy’s bathroom. He’d confronted her after a week, wanting to know why she hadn’t answered, until she reminded him that she was a girl and didn’t frequent the boy’s bathroom. “Sweetie, why do you think we need a contract for this?”</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon began to wring his hands. With most people, he could just demand they sign it or else. He knew that wouldn’t work with Penny, but if he explained it to her, she might decide they were no longer compatible, and that was unacceptable to him.</p><p> </p><p>She could see that he was beginning to freak out. She didn’t mean to put him on the spot, but she had to know. It was obviously important to him, but if he really wanted to be in a relationship with her, she needed to know why it was so important. She placed her hand over his and pushed them down into his lap to still them. “Sweetie, I’m not judging, I just want to know you better. If I’m going to agree to a change in our relationship, I need to know these things. What’s important to you, should be important to me too.”</p><p> </p><p>He looked down at her small hand covering his. He took a deep breath and came clean. “Penny, I am a creature of habit, and I like knowing what is expected of me. I don’t like the unknown, and I don’t do well with surprises. Relationship contracts help me understand my role. As you know, I’m not particularly good with social cues. I would hate to lose a friend because of some social faux pas, that I didn’t even know I committed. These contracts make it so I can maintain friendships. They bring order to something I don’t fully grasp.”</p><p> </p><p>Penny felt her heart break for him “Oh, Sweetie, anyone who knows you should know that you would never intentionally destroy a friendship. Not without just outright saying you no longer want to be friends. If it helps, I am willing to look this over, but I will probably make some changes. And there has to be some room for error and forgiveness. I’m not so great with structure and rules. I’m very free spirited and tend to go with what I feel. I’m still not entirely sure a relationship like this will work for us.”</p><p> </p><p>“Would you please read it before you make a decision?”</p><p> </p><p>“Sure, Sweetie, I can do that.” She picked up the paper and started reading.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The Best Friend Agreement</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Relationship Addendum</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sheldon Lee Cooper will retain the title of “Best Friend” to Penelope Elizabeth Halverston with the additional status of “Boyfriend”.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Penelope Elizabeth Halverston will retain the title of “Best Friend” of Sheldon Lee Cooper with the added status of “Girlfriend”.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Sheldon Lee Cooper will be known throughout this document as Sheldon, the “Best Friend”, or the “Boyfriend”.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Penelope Elizabeth Halverston will be known throughout this document as Penny, the “Best Friend”, or the “Girl Friend”.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>This document shall only reference changes to sections of the Best Friend Agreement, or additions to the agreement due to the additional Boyfriend/Girlfriend status, as noted by an asterisk.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Social Introductions Clause, Section 3, Article 4: When introducing one another to someone new, the proper introduction shall be “This is my Best Friend, (insert Sheldon or Penny here)”. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>*This should now only be done in the event you are trying to avoid the other person from attempting to become your best friend. With the relationship addendum, the new proper introduction shall be “This is my Boyfriend/Girlfriend, (insert Sheldon or Penny here)”.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Public Displays of Affection Clause, Section 1, Article 1: High Fives. Can be given to indicate celebration after a contest or competition has been won.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>*In addition to high fives, a congratulatory hug or a kiss on the cheek is now acceptable under the relationship addendum.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Public Displays of Affection Clause, Section1, Article 2: Hugs. Hugs can be given as an addition to a hot beverage in extreme cases of sorrow. Hugs can also be given as a thank you for something extremely important.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>*Hugs can now be given to indicate celebration as in the Public Displays of Affection Clause, Section 1, Article 1. They can also be given to indicate any type of affection, as hugs are commonplace in a Boyfriend/Girlfriend relationship. Hugs in public should be limited to five “Mississippi’s” or less, unless under extreme emotional distress. </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Public Displays of Affection Clause, Section 1, Article 3: Kisses. Kisses should never be given. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>*Kisses are now allowed, but only on the cheek when in public. See the “Private Displays of Affection Clause” below.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>*Public Displays of Affection Clause, Section 4, Article 1: Sheldon recognizes that Penny requires displays of affection and is intitled to them as Sheldon’s girlfriend. Sheldon humbly requests that public displays remain limited as to keep his anxiety at a minimum when possible.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>*Private Displays of Affection Clause: All Private Displays of Affection are allowed. </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Strikes: *All strikes used as consequences for breaking the rules of the Best Friend Agreement are hereby suspended, as giving strikes to a boyfriend/girlfriend is not a good way to build a relationship. All past strikes have also been forgiven.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Penny’s eyes darted back up to the Private Displays of Affection Clause. There was no way he didn’t have conditions. She peeked over to see him steadily looking at her. She glanced back down at the paper in her hands. He must really want this relationship if this was all he was asking of her. “I know I’m going to regret asking this, but why are there no conditions under the Private Displays of Affection Clause?”</p><p> </p><p>“Because I want you to be happy.”</p><p> </p><p>“What if I smother you with affection one day?”</p><p> </p><p>“Would that make you happy?”</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe.”</p><p> </p><p>“If it would make you happy,” he gulped “then I am willing to be smothered.”</p><p> </p><p>“What if you are on the verge of proving string theory?”</p><p> </p><p>He squeezed his eyes shut “If you are happy, then I am happy.”</p><p> </p><p>“What if you are trying to write your acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize?”</p><p> </p><p>“Penny, are you really going to make me say it again?” He whined.</p><p> </p><p>She laughed in response “No.” Penny glanced back down at the paper in her hand. “I have some adjustments I would like to make.”</p><p> </p><p>“According to my calculations, we still have two hours in our flight. Will it take longer than that?”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t imagine it will, Sweetie.” She smiled brightly.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll be working on my phone, please inform me when it’s completed to your satisfaction.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sure thing, Sweetie.” She smiled at how quickly he could be absorbed into his work. She glanced down at the paper. She decided to start at the top and work her way down.</p><p> </p><p><em>*This should now only be done in the event you are trying to avoid the other person from attempting to become your best friend. With the relationship addendum, the new proper introduction shall be “This is my </em>Best Friend and<em> Boyfriend/Girlfriend, (insert Sheldon or Penny here)”.</em></p><p>
  
</p><p><em>*Hugs can now be given to indicate celebration as in the Public Displays of Affection Clause, Section 1, Article 1. They can also be given to indicate any type of affection, as hugs are commonplace in a Boyfriend/Girlfriend relationship. Hugs in public should be limited to </em>THREE<em> “Mississippi’s” or less, unless under extreme emotional distress </em>or Jubilation<em>. </em></p><p>
  
</p><p><em>*Public Displays of Affection Clause, Section 4, Article 1: Sheldon recognizes that Penny requires displays of affection and is intitled to them as Sheldon’s girlfriend. Sheldon humbly requests that public displays remain limited as to keep his anxiety at a minimum when possible. </em>Penny appreciates Sheldon’s consideration, and promises to keep public displays of affection limited, except for hand holding. Please see the “Hand Holding Stipulation Clause” for more details.</p><p>
  
</p><p>*Hand Holding Stipulation Clause, Section 1, Article 1: Sheldon will avoid complaining when Penny requests to hold hands. Penny promises to always give notice before reaching for his hand, as to limit the amount of anxiety. Sheldon is expected to have reasonable excuses to refuse the request, such as having unclean hands, or because he is holding too many of her shopping bags and has no available hands to hold.</p><p> </p><p><em>*Private Displays of Affection Clause: All Private Displays of Affection are allowed.</em> But Penny will keep them to a minimum until Sheldon has become more comfortable with physical affection. She will allow him to set the pace for advancement of the physical aspects of the relationship. Once a new advancement has been made, and Sheldon is able to perform said advancement without discomfort, Penny will include it within their regular private display of affection routine. At ANY time, if Sheldon or Penny is uncomfortable with something they have tried, they will strike it from their routine. Both parties must feel comfortable.</p><p> </p><p>*The Coitis Clause, Section 1, Article 1: Penny will NEVER push for Coitis. As stated in the “Private Displays of Affection Clause”, Sheldon will set the pace for advancement of the physical aspects of the relationship. Once Sheldon and Penny have had coitis, Penny will always ask before initiating coitis to lessen any discomfort.</p><p> </p><p>*The Coitis Clause, Section 1, Article 2: Penny hates the term Coitis, and refuses to use it, but she will allow Sheldon to use the term, as long as it’s not used right before, during, or after the act, as it will ruin EVERYTHING.</p><p> </p><p>*The Moonpie Clause: Penny can call Sheldon “Moonpie” in addition to “Sweetie”, until such time as Sheldon has approved a different pet name. After all, “other Penny” stated in her universe, it was his favorite nickname from her.</p><p> </p><p>*The Review Clause: At any time, either party can request a review of the agreement, and can call an emergency meeting to discuss changes that need to be made. Otherwise, both parties shall meet every six months to review the agreement. Notice of the review must be given with at least two weeks’ notice, and a reminder the day before.</p><p> </p><p>Penny took a look at her additions. She tried to make it sound as smart as possible. She hoped Sheldon would understand that this was her way of accepting his terms. She gently tapped him on the shoulder and waited for him to finish what he was doing. Once she had his full attention, she handed him her revisions. She bit her lip and waited patiently for him to read it.</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon was trying to keep a straight face, but he wanted to smile. He was enormously proud of Penny for her additions to the agreement, and he was so thankful for her thoughtfulness, that he was even willing to overlook her misspelling of the word “coitus”.  He glanced at her through his peripheral vision, and saw she was nervously biting her lip. He glanced back down at the paper in his hand. He wanted to yell in triumph, but knew that would be inappropriate, especially on a plane. Instead, he quickly leaned over and kissed her full on the lips.</p><p> </p><p>Penny’s eyes widened as Sheldon sat back and smiled at her. “Hey, that’s against the agreement!” She laughed.</p><p> </p><p>“Ah,” he pointed at the agreement “but as you can see, neither of us has signed it yet, so it doesn’t count.” He smirked.</p><p> </p><p>---------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>Missy was hiding behind the vending machines, trying to look like she wasn’t. She wanted to observe her brother interacting with Penny for just a few moments. Sheldon looked grumpy and was mumbling about something as they stopped near the baggage claim. She watched as her fussy brother grabbed Penny’s hand and laced his fingers with hers while they waited for their luggage. Missy covered her mouth to hold in her squeal. Sheldon-I-hate-germs-Cooper, was holding hands with a girl! Penny smiled up into his face, and he ended up giving her a small smile in return. Missy quickly snapped a photo and sent it to her mother and Meemaw. Just WAIT until they saw this! Not a moment later, her phone trilled out. She quickly answered it before Sheldon’s super hearing caught her.</p><p> </p><p>“Mama, what is it?” She whispered.</p><p> </p><p>“Tell me that isn’t one of your famous pranks, because if it is, it isn’t funny!” Mary growled.</p><p> </p><p>“Mama, I promise, this is real. I’m hiding near the snack machines. I just wanted to observe them a bit before I let them know I was here. And mama…. Sheldon was the one that grabbed her hand, not the other way around!” She whispered excitedly.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, blessed day! I gotta call your Meemaw, we need to go shopping for hats!”</p><p> </p><p>“Mama,” she quickly interrupted “Don’t you go ruinin’ this before it’s even gotten off the ground. I want Penny as a sister-in-law, and if Sheldon finds out you’re out buyin’ hats before he’s made his declarations, then he might dig in his heels and refuse.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, don’t you worry about that. We’ll keep everything mum, but mark my words, that girl will be a Cooper by next Christmas.”</p><p> </p><p>“Mama, I gotta go, they’re gonna start wondering where I am. I’ll swing by once they are all settled in.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, you keep me posted.”</p><p> </p><p>Missy said her goodbyes and hung up the phone. She casually stepped out and made her way over to her twin. As she got close, she called out. “There you are Shelly! Come, give your sister a squeeze.” She rushed over as she opened her arms and noticed that Sheldon only slightly twitched before allowing himself to be hugged. He even patted her on the back without fuss.</p><p> </p><p>“Hello, Missy. As you already know Penny, I won’t introduce you.”</p><p> </p><p>Missy waved Sheldon away and grabbed Penny up in a big Texas hug. “Hey there, Penny, I’ve missed you!” she leaned back “How was your flight?”</p><p> </p><p>Penny blushed and her eyes darted to Sheldon “It was very productive, wouldn’t you say so Sheldon?”</p><p> </p><p>He cleared his throat. “I would say that is an accurate description of our travels.”</p><p> </p><p>Penny grabbed his arm and tugged “Sheldon, there’s our bags.” She pointed to where their bags were popping up over the conveyer belt and dropping down onto the carousel.</p><p> </p><p>They grabbed their respective bags and followed Missy out to the parking lot. “So, Shelly, I was thinking, since you can’t see Mama just yet, why don’t we go out to dinner tonight? Just Meemaw, me, you, and Penny? We’d have to drive out of town, so word doesn’t get back to mama that you’re here, but I’m sure we can find someplace you’d like.”</p><p> </p><p>“Actually, I have a restaurant that I frequent when I visit. It’s in Texas City, we should be fine there.” He replied as he helped Penny load her luggage in the trunk of the car.</p><p> </p><p>Penny smiled “It’s a good thing you packed me an extra dress then, Sweetie.”</p><p> </p><p>------------------------------------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>“Moonpie!” Connie called happily in greeting as she saw Sheldon step out of the car. He waved before opening the door and helping a young lady who she assumed was Penny out of the back seat. She waited patiently as they walked up the path to the door.</p><p> </p><p>“Hello, Meemaw! It’s nice to see you!” He happily allowed her to pull him in for a hug. Meemaw hugs were the best, because she knew exactly how much to squeeze and for how long. He pulled back and smiled. “Penny, this is my Meemaw, Meemaw, this is my best friend and girlfriend, Penny.”</p><p> </p><p>Missy punched him on the arm. “Ow!” he rubbed the spot “What was that for?”</p><p> </p><p>Missy seethed “You didn’t tell me you two were together!”</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t have to introduce you, because you already know Penny, and you didn’t ask.”</p><p> </p><p>“Now, children, settle down. No fighting.” She pulled Penny in for a squeeze “It is so nice to finally meet you my dear! Come in, and we’ll all sit down for a spell.” She pulled back, but held Penny’s hands in hers. “Sheldon, your favorite cookies are on the table, and Missy, your brownies are cooling on the stove top.” Penny and Meemaw stepped back as the twins pushed their way into the house, each trying to be the first to get at their sweets.</p><p> </p><p>Penny could hear the two fighting about Sheldon not disclosing their relationship to Missy at the airport. She couldn’t help but smile in fondness. Missy had quickly become a close friend, and Penny was excited to spend some time with her this week. She was also looking forward to getting to know Sheldon’s family a bit more. This week should provide her with plenty of insight as to how Sheldon grew up to be… well, Sheldon.</p><p> </p><p>“Why don’t we follow those two into the kitchen, and we can sit down and chat?” Meemaw wrapped her arm through Penny’s, lead her passed the door, and through the house.</p><p> </p><p>Penny cast her gaze around as Meemaw lead her to the kitchen. Her living room was filled with a variety of bric-a-brac and family photos. It was cozy, welcoming, and warm, much like Meemaw herself. They stepped into the kitchen where Sheldon and Missy were setting the table and placing the goodies out on plates. Sheldon saw them and quickly pulled out a chair for his Meemaw. “Is there anything I can help with?”</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you for offering, Penny, but we have everything covered.” Sheldon moved to the other side of the table and held a chair out for her as well.</p><p> </p><p>Penny smiled and sat “Thank you, Sheldon, that is very sweet of you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Meemaw, would you like a cup of tea, or hot cocoa?”</p><p> </p><p>“Shelly, you know Meemaw likes coffee in the morning.” Missy pointed out.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, but I don’t know how to make coffee, since I myself don’t drink it.” He shot back.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t worry Meemaw, I’ve already got a pot going. I’ll pour it for you as soon as it’s done.” Missy stuck her tongue out at Sheldon behind Meemaw’s back.</p><p> </p><p>Sheldon seethed. His twin sister was always trying to get the better of him. He hadn’t realized he’d placed his hands on Penny’s shoulders and was squeezing, until he felt her hand lay over his. It was oddly soothing, and he felt his anger slowly drain away. Curious, Penny seemed to have calming powers of some sort. He looked down into her upturned face. She smiled, and he smiled back. He was just about to lean down to kiss her when he remembered where he was. Drat his biological male urges. He stood up straight and cleared his throat. “Penny, would you prefer tea or hot cocoa?”</p><p> </p><p>“Hot cocoa, please.”</p><p> </p><p>Missy stared on in shock. This day just kept getting better and better! She knew desire when she saw it in a man’s eyes, she just never thought to see that particular look on her know-it-all brother’s face. She glanced at Meemaw, who happened to have a smile as big as Texas. She must have seen the same thing Missy had. She couldn’t wait to see what the next week would bring.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
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